


And I'm in the bleachers

by all_the_ships_are_sailing



Category: Love Victor (TV 2020)
Genre: Family Dynamics, Gen, High School, I'm Sorry, Marching Band, Marching Band AU, Moving, New School, Slow Burn, Summer, Ultra Slow Burn, it was an accident but it's happening slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:33:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 39
Words: 118,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29409834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/all_the_ships_are_sailing/pseuds/all_the_ships_are_sailing
Summary: Victor Salazar is finishing his freshman year of high school in Graham, TX when his dad gets a new job that forces the family to move to the small town of Ephrata, PA. Thrilled with the idea of a fresh start and maybe the chance to finally figure himself out, Victor is excited; his younger sister, Pilar, a little less so. Both Salazar siblings join the high school marching band upon arrival and this is the story of the hijinks and drama that unfold thereafter.
Relationships: Benjamin "Benji" Campbell/Derek (Love Victor), Mia Brooks/Victor Salazar
Comments: 37
Kudos: 13





	1. Part 1A - The Journey

**Author's Note:**

> I will add relationships/characters/tags as I add to the story (and take them away); the current tags (especially relationships) reflect where the story is not where it's going. I don't want to spoil anything (even though if you've watched the show; you know how this ends... or well how it middles, I guess? Because there's more after that here)! 
> 
> Yes, the title is a Taylor Swift lyric and no, the song has nothing to do with the story it was just the only Marching Band related lyric/title I could think of. 
> 
> This story will come to you in 25 parts; however each part will account for multiple chapters, so it's going to be a lot more than 25 total chapters, but there are 25 main sections of the story. The story spans about seven months (beginning on June 1, 2019 and ending on January 2, 2020) or the entirety of marching season plus the time leading up to and including a Winter Break band trip to Disney World!
> 
> The relocation from Atlanta to PA is because this is now set in my hometown, because I have no clue how HS marching band works in GA. Also most OCs are probably real life people (I may put some chapter notes about specific ones). I'm changing most people's surnames (but not first names) a little (same initial; different name usually), so you don't like go find these people.
> 
> I decided to eliminate a few characters from the Love Victor universe (most notably Adrian and Simon). The Salazars' move occurs at the beginning of June 2019 instead of January 2020. The first part of the story will loosely follow the plot of Love, Victor Season 1, but definitely not exactly.
> 
> If I ever write a spoken line in Spanish that doesn't make any sense to a Spanish-speaker, please let me know. I don't know any Spanish, so I'm using Google Translate for everything.

Pulling away from the house I’ve called home since birth is a weird feeling. We’re in my dad’s Subaru. Pilar and I are in the backseat with a cooler between us and our parents are in the front. We're about to start our twenty-two and a half hour drive to our new home in Pennsylvania. When our dad came home from work last month and told us we were moving across the country, it was sort of a shock. We were already prepping for the fall Marching Band season at Graham and I had no idea what to even say. Our parents didn’t really give us a full explanation of why we were moving even; all they said was my dad got a new, better paying job in Pennsylvania.

When Dad makes the right off Canyon Rd on 16 to head toward town, Pilar is already furiously typing into her phone. This is going to be harder on her than me, I think. She’s never done well with change. I’m actually sort of looking forward to a fresh start and even though we’re moving to an almost equally small town, it’s in the north and I have some sort of hope, it might be a little more open-minded than Texas. There’s never been room to be different in Graham; especially not the kind of different I’m pretty sure I am. I have no way of knowing for sure, because even so much as saying it’s a possibility would end with a profound lack of friends and maybe even a lack of family.

My mom’s from Puerto Rico and my dad was born in Graham, but Abuela Nati and Tito moved there from Colombia before he was born. They’re all Catholic. Very Catholic and very conservative. I’m talking mass on Sunday, small groups on Wednesday, no sex before marriage, get married at eighteen and have babies Catholic and conservative. But it worked for my parents. They got married right after high school while my dad was training to be an electrician and had me a year later and Pilar a year after that. I’m pretty sure they were just meant to be, or I was until a couple months ago when they suddenly started arguing every night. I guess, I’m also kind of hoping this move will help them figure out what the hell is going on, because I have no idea how much more Pilar and I can handle.

Dad drives us up 16 until it turns into Elm Street and then through town. I try to take in the surroundings, because I have no idea when the next time we’ll be back here is. After we get through Graham itself, the route is basically just vast open land on both sides with the occasional tiny town until an hour later when we hit Wichita Falls. Then we’re on a real highway, I-44, and things start moving quicker. We cross into Oklahoma fifteen minutes later and everything is just open land again for half an hour until Lawton. There’re a couple small towns, but we’re on the H.E. Bailey Turnpike heading across Oklahoma, so they pass in blurs. I’m listening to music on my phone with my headphones, because I can’t stand the weird Spanish music my parents have on the radio.

The turnpike ends and turns back into a regular highway as we enter the Oklahoma City metro area just before noon. Dad merges onto I-40 to head east in the middle of the city and I try to appreciate the views of the Oklahoma River outside my window. He gets off the Highway and pulls into a McDonald’s parking lot as we’re almost to the end of the city. We get some lunch and everything’s a little weird, honestly. We don’t really do family vacations, so this is the longest we’ve been crammed into the car together in years. My mom’s trying to make it exciting for us, but it’s not happening. Pilar just rolls her eyes and I smile and nod. Dad hasn’t said much at all and it just feels strange.

When we’re back in the car, Pilar and I both put our air pods in and Dad gets back on the highway. A few miles later we merge back onto I-44 East which is Turner Turnpike on this side of the city and we’re in the suburbs. An hour and a half after Oklahoma City is Tulsa which is a huge sprawling city and then the turnpike changes names again to Will Rogers and we keep driving. An hour and a half after that, just after 4:30, we enter Missouri. Just over an hour after that we stop for dinner on the other side of Springfield. We eat at a Golden Corral which is fine. It’s nothing special, but it’s fine. We stay there for just over an hour and then my dad says we should get going, so we walk back to the car.

It’s open land mixed with small towns again until we reach the Saint Louis metro area three hours later. My mom says we should probably stop for the night soon and my dad agrees, so he gets off the next exit and we check into a run-down old Hampton Inn for the night. Pilar and I have to share a double bed and she complains about it for half an hour. No one sleeps well, other than my dad. He snores so loud. I usually don’t mind, since I’ve grown up with it, but when he’s in the same room it’s too much and it seems Pilar agrees.

We eat Breakfast in the hotel lobby and then get back into the car. There’s a Starbucks visible from the parking lot and Pilar begs until my dad agrees to go through the drive thru for her. I get an iced coffee too, because honestly with how little sleep I got, I’m going to need something to get me through the day.

We’re back on the highway just before 10. It takes a little over 20 minutes to get through Saint Louis and as we’re crossing into Illinois, you can actually see the Gateway Arch out the left-hand windows which is pretty cool, I guess. I-44 runs into I-55 which runs into I-70 and then we’re heading east again through rural Illinois. Two and a half hours later, we cross into Indiana and a few exits later, we stop at a Popeye’s for lunch.

My mom points out that we changed time zones while we’re eating and I look at my phone. It’s already 1:45. I ask if we’re going to make it today and my dad says he’d like to. My mom says we should get going, so we’re not too late. My parents had paid for someone to drive a huge truck with all of our furniture to the new place a couple days ago and they’d video chatted with them while they placed it where it belonged. We have a little U-Haul trailer behind the car with our clothing and small items, but almost everything else is just waiting for us in the new apartment.

After lunch, it’s about an hour until we’re passing through Indianapolis and an hour and a half after that until we’re crossing into Ohio. It’s almost 6:00 when we’re enter the city of Columbus. My mom says we should stop for dinner and no one’s really that hungry yet because of the time change, but my dad gets off the highway and pulls into the parking lot of an Arby’s. I think Pilar is even more angry that she was when we were leaving Graham at this point and I’m really hoping we can make it tonight, because I do _not_ want to share a bed with her again.

We only stop for 15 minutes before we’re back on the road. My mom's looking at the GPS. “Mando, it’s still more than 6 hours,” she says.

“I know, Isa.”

“Do you think maybe we should go a little further and then stop. We can do the last couple hours in the morning?”

“You have that appointment at the school tomorrow morning.”

“No. It’s on Tuesday,” she corrects.

“Oh,” he says. “Yeah, alright. Let’s go a few more hours tonight though. Then we can get there by lunchtime tomorrow and have the afternoon to unpack.”

My mom agrees and then we’re pulling out of Arby’s and merging back onto the highway as I start my music again. Two hours later at almost 8:30, we cross briefly into West Virginia, but only twenty minutes after that we’re finally in Pennsylvania. “Thank fuck,” Pilar grumbles when we pass the welcome sign.

“PILAR!” my mom shouts and my sister groans.

“Sorry. We’ve been in this car forever.”

Twenty minutes later we’re in a town called Washington and my mom points when there’s a sign for yet another Hampton Inn. My dad agrees and pulls off the highway. Pilar doesn’t complain about the bed this time. I think we’re all just exhausted and ready to be there. The next morning, we eat breakfast in the lobby and then get back into the car. Pilar doesn’t even beg for coffee today, so we’re on the road just after 8:30.

Forty-five minutes after we pull out of the hotel parking lot, Dad takes a toll ticket as we enter the Pennsylvania Turnpike. An hour later, there’s a sign for a service plaza that has a Starbucks and the coffee gene kicks in. “Can we stop for coffee, please?” Pilar asks, pulling an ear bud out.

“Huh?” my dad says, glancing in the rearview mirror.

“Coffee. There’s a Starbucks at the plaza.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” he says and he merges into the right lane.

It takes maybe fifteen minutes for us to all get coffee and use the bathroom and then we’re back on the road. “Only a little over two hours,” my mom announces as she restarts the GPS. There’s a whole lot of nothing out the windows until just over an hour later. It’s almost noon and we’re almost to an exit for Carlisle. We get through the town and then there’s fields for a few more miles before we’re in another town that I couldn’t tell you the name of because there’s not an exit. This one seems to bleed into the next one and then we’re crossing a river.

My mom glances at the GPS again. “Forty minutes!”

“Should we stop for lunch or just wait until we get there?” my dad asks.

I look at the time. It’s 12:30. “Let’s wait until we’re off the toll road,” my mom says. “We can stop somewhere in our new town.”

My dad nods awkwardly and keeps driving. “We’re the next exit,” he says.

There’s a little bit of town on the other side of the river, but then it’s open land again. A combination of fields and forest. Twenty more minutes and we’re getting off at an exit that appears to be in the middle of literal nowhere but says it’s for Lancaster/Lebanon.

We turn left and we’re literally driving into a forest. A few miles and we take an exit to the right for route 322 that says Ephrata. “That’s us!” my dad says. I’m not sure if he’s actually excited or just pretending to be, but honestly, I kind of am. I’m not only ready to be out of this car, but I’m ready to actually see this place.

Less than ten minutes and we’re finally out of the woods. Granted, we still seem to be in the middle of nowhere. There’s not much of anything, but at least there're houses instead of trees. Five minutes later there’s an ice cream shop on the left and it looks like it must be pretty good because the parking lot is almost completely full.

“Would it be terrible if we have ice cream for lunch?” my dad asks.

“Absolutely not!” I say. He laughs and turns into the parking lot. The ice cream is actually amazing and it turns out they have food, too, so we don’t have to actually eat ice cream for lunch. We’re there for maybe half an hour before my mom says we should go so we can unpack and my dad agrees so we go back to the car.

It’s less than ten minutes later when my dad parks on a street across from some apartment buildings. “This is it Salazars!” he says and we all get out of the car.

“Ooh, Armando!” my mom says and I’m not sure if she’s serious or not. “It looks nice! What a great building! I think we’re gonna be really happy here.” My dad puts his arm around her shoulders.

Pilar is holding her phone to her ear when she walks up next to me from the other side of the car and I guess she’s talking to Eric. “I miss you so much. I would crawl back to Texas on broken glass just to have five more minutes with you.”

“Pilar, say goodbye to your boyfriend,” my mom says. “I’m trying to have a nice family moment here.”

“My kidnappers are making me hang up,” she says into the phone. “Send help.” Then I watch as she ends the call.

“Hey, can you cheer up?” I tell her. “Maybe Pennsylvania won’t be so bad.”

“Mom and Dad made me move fifteen hundred miles away from the love of my life. If you had a girlfriend, you’d understand.”

“Yeah,” I say. _This already_. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

We start walking across the street. “We’ll come get everything in a minute. Let’s just go see the place first,” my mom says.

The inside of the building is old, but it’s not bad. My dad unlocks the door to our apartment which is to the right on the second floor. The entry way is a little narrow and the kitchen’s a little small, but we walk to the living room and my mom smiles. “Oh! Mi amor!” she says, putting her hand on my dad’s cheek.

“Huh? You like it?”

“I do. I do.”

“What’d I tell ya?” he says. And the apartment is nice. It’s not massive by any means, but there’s enough space for everything. The couch, chair, and entertainment center are already in the living room and the table’s in the dining room. There’s this little deck off the main room where I’m sure my mom’s going to plant way too many flowers.

Back the hallway there’s a coat closet on the right, across from my bedroom which has a window facing the street. Then Pilar’s room is after mine, across from our bathroom and the washer and dryer. At the end of the hall is my parents’ room and they have their own smaller bathroom attached. It’s smaller than our house back in Texas, but it’s fine. It’s perfect, honestly. A fresh start in a new state is exactly what this family needs; exactly what I need.


	2. Part 1B - Enrollment Meeting and Band Director Introductions

When I walk out of my bedroom the next morning, I find the rest of my family in the kitchen. My dad is on a step stool with a crucifix in his hand. “If I were Jesus, where would I want to be to watch over this family?” my mom asks, looking at Pilar.

“Probably not nailed to a cross,” she says.

“Good morning, everyone!” I interrupt, before my mom can reply.

“Good morning!” she says, turning to look at me as she leans against the counter with a coffee cup in her hands.

“Ready to see your new school, Flaco?” my dad asks, turning around.

“Sure, why not,” I say with a little chuckle.

My dad heads to work just before 8. His new job is at the local hospital which is less than a mile from our new apartment, but he takes the car. So, my mom, sister, and I walk to the high school for our 8:30 appointment with the enrollment specialist. I don’t even know why we have to be there. It sounds like all they’re doing is paperwork, but my mom insists we should come and at least see the school.

It’s not a long walk, maybe fifteen minutes, but there’s this giant hill going past the middle school that might be my new least favorite thing. I’m definitely not looking forward to walking up that every single day for the next three years, that’s for sure. We cross a main road after the Middle School and then there’s this weird little cemetery on the left and the football stadium is behind it. There’s a parking lot that looks to be for the stadium, but has a handful of cars in it and then another parking lot that’s almost entirely full right behind the school building. The school itself is made of brick and when we’re walking toward the entrance, I notice a full-on tractor trailer on the other end of the lot that has “Ephrata High School Marching Unit” plastered on the side, so at least I know there’s a band. I wonder absently if I might still be able to join. Marching band was one of my favorite things in Texas.

The doors are locked, but there’s a call buzzer which my mom presses. “Can I help you?” a voice says a moment later.

“Um, we have a registration appointment?” my mom answers.

“Come on in,” the voice replies. “We’re around to the left.” The door buzzes loudly and we go inside. We appear to be outside the auditorium, but all the doors are closed. There’s a couple display cases with leftover cast pictures from the spring musical and as we walk around to the left there’s a short flight of stairs that goes down. At the bottom of the stairs there’s a door on the left labeled “District Office”. My mom opens it and waves me and Pilar inside before she follows.

The secretary behind the desk smiles at us, but a lady standing in the doorway behind her speaks. “You must be the Salazars!” she says as she walks forward. She extends her hand toward my mom. “Pam Stokes, enrollment specialist for the district.”

“Nice to meet you,” my mom says, shaking her hand. “I’m Isabel Salazar and these are my children, Victor and Pilar.”

Pam smiles at us and then waves for us to follow her back the hall. We arrive in her office and she sits behind the desk. “I’ll just need those documents we discussed and then we’re all set to get them enrolled for next school year.”

“Of course,” my mom says as she unzips her purse. Pilar and I look at each other and she rolls her eyes. I look behind the desk and notice a picture of a boy, I assume is Pam’s son, holding a trumpet.

“Proof of residency, first,” she says.

“Copy of the lease works, right?”

“That’s perfect,” Pam says and takes the paper from my mom to make a copy. Once it’s copied, she hands the paper back and clicks a few things on her screen. “Then proof of their ages, so birth certificates or passports.” My mom hands her two sheets of paper and she flips through them. “Perfect.” She scans those, too and then hands them back. “And I’ll need your ID as well, Mrs. Salazar.”

My mom pulls out her wallet. “It’s still from Texas. We haven’t gone and got our new ones yet,” she says as she pulls out her driver’s license.

“That’s fine,” Pam says as she starts to make a copy. “When did you guys get in?”

“Yesterday afternoon; the drive took us two and a half days,” my mom says.

“Wow,” Pam says as she hands the ID back. “How are you liking it so far?”

“It’s really nice here,” my mom says and I see Pilar roll her eyes again.

“Okay, just the immunization records then.” My mom hands over two more sheets to be copied. When Pam hands them back, she stands up. “You two'll be students here at the high school, right?” she says and Pilar and I both nod. “Are there any extracurriculars you’re interested in or anything that I might be able to put you in touch with anyone about?”

“Um, actually, I was in band back in Texas… I know it might be a little too late for this year, but.”

She smiles broadly. “What instrument?”

“Uh, percussion, drumline,” I say.

“My husband was a drummer when we were in school. I mean before he was the Drum Major that is,” she says with a little chuckle. “My oldest plays trumpet now,” she adds pulling down the picture from earlier. “He’ll be joining the marching band this year, too. Um, I can call down and see if Mr. Fairchild has a minute for us. I don’t think he has a second period class. If you want, that is.”

“Is he the band director?” She nods. “Okay, yeah. That’d be great. Pilar’s actually in band, too.”

“Oh!” Pam says and turns to her. “What do you play?”

“Oboe,” she says quietly. “Um, I was actually supposed to do Color Guard for marching band.”

Pam smiles. “Let me give him a call. Just a second.” She picks up her phone and dials five numbers before waiting. “Scott, Pam Stokes in the district office.” She pauses. “I actually have two students in my office right now that will be new to the district next year and they’re both in band. I was wondering if you’d have a minute for me to bring them over.” She pauses again. “Perfect. We’ll be right there.” She hangs up the phone and then smiles at us. “He said he’d love to meet you guys, so I can take you over there. The band room is right around the corner.”

We follow Pam out of the district office and to the left. At the end of the hall, I can see an art classroom full of students and she turns us to the right. We go back a short hallway and then down a few stairs to the right and back another short hallway. At the end of that hall, we enter a large room full of instrument storage cubbies and _a lot_ of chairs and music stands. A man walks out of an office on the other side of the room.

“Hello!” he says with a smile. “Thanks for bringing them over, Mrs. Stokes.”

“No problem,” she says. “I’ll leave you to it!” Pam turns and leaves.

“I’m Mr. Fairchild, band director,” he says. “What are your names?”

“I’m Victor, and this is Pilar,” I say, indicating my sister.

“Isabel, their mom,” my mom says, holding out her hand which the band director shakes.

“Wonderful, so, what instruments do you two play? And what grades will you be in?”

“Uh, percussion, sophomore,” I say awkwardly.

“Oboe, frehsman,” Pilar says, just as awkwardly.

“Wonderful! Victor, were you in marching band at your old school?” I nod. “Would you want to join us for next season? We’ve already had our kick off meeting and one new member rehearsal, but it’s not too late.”

“Really?” I ask and he nods. “Yeah. I mean, yeah, that’d be awesome.”

He smiles. “Do you have a specialty? Drumline or pit?”

“I played snare last year.”

“Perfect. Um, give me just a minute to grab some papers and we can have mom sign some things while you’re here. Then I’ll get you in touch with our percussion caption head, Mr. Garrett. He’s our middle school band director but he handles everything for drumline and pit during marching season.” I nod and Mr. Fairchild disappears into his office for a few minutes.

“Are you going to ask him about guard?” I say to Pilar and she shrugs. “You should,” I tell her. “You could make some friends before school starts and not spend the whole summer alone.” She shrugs again. “Want me say something?” She just shrugs _again_.

“Pilar, mi amor,” our mom says.

“Yeah, fine. I’ll ask.”

Mr. Fairchild walks back toward us and hands me a thick packet. “That’s our member handbook,” he says. “And the percussion warm-ups and info sheet. The whole season schedule is in there for you to take a look at. And then there’s a bunch of stuff at the back that needs filled out.” He turns to my mom. “I know you probably weren’t expecting this, so I don’t expect you to have it today, but we have member dues of thirty-five dollars to cover food, transportation, and uniform cleaning. If you could have me a check by the first rehearsal…”

“Oh, yeah, okay,” she says and then she turns to my sister. “Pilar?"

Pilar takes a deep breath. “Um, I was actually supposed to do color guard back in Texas,” she says quietly.

“Really?” he asks with a smile. “You want to join us, too?” She nods. “Wonderful. Let me grab another set of paperwork and I’m going to call down to Mr. Hartsock our guard director who teaches English and see if he has a minute to come meet you. I know he doesn’t have a class this period.” He disappears into the office again and I see him pick up the phone. When he sets it down he returns to us. “He’s on his way up. Here’s your copy of the handbook. There should be a couple pens or pencils on my podium behind you if you guys want to fill out the paperwork while you’re here.”

I turn around and grab a pen before sitting on a chair and using a music stand as a table. “Wait, Disney Trip?” I ask looking up suddenly.

He chuckles. “Right, um, this happens to be a big trip year for us. We’re going to Disney World for a few days over Christmas Break to participate in the Disney Music Program and we’ll perform in a parade in one of the parks.” He smiles. “It does have an extra cost, obviously and is in no way required to participate in the rest of the season, but if you’re interested.” He smiles and shrugs. “We do this or something similar every four years, so every student has the opportunity to go once during their time in high school. The opposite every four years (so overall every two years) we take a smaller trip.”

“Wow, Graham never had anything like that,” I say and I go back to looking at the papers.

“How much does that trip cost?” my mom asks.

“Fifteen hundred a piece,” he says. “But we do a lot of fundraisers throughout the year that give the kids the opportunity to bank some toward it. We have a Band Parents Association if you’d be interested. We meet every month, third Tuesdays.”

“Oh,” my mom says and I know she’s elated by this development. Anything to be more involved in our lives. “That sounds wonderful!”

“Third Tuesdays at seven, here in the band room,” he tells her. “You’re welcome to join us in two weeks.”

“Ammo box?” I ask, looking up from my paperwork again.

He chuckles and takes a step back to point at a box on the floor behind him. “Ammo box. We just use it as a secure drop off for band dues and such.”

Another man walks into the room a second later. “Mr. Hartsock!” Mr. Fairchild greets him. “This is Pilar, she’s going to be a new student at Ephrata this fall and was interested in color guard.”

“Excellent!” Mr. Hartsock says and he starts talking to Pilar about God knows what because I have no idea what half the words he’s using even mean. We stay there for a while and get most of our paperwork filled out and then Mr. Fairchild looks at the clock. “Oh, the period’s almost over and I _do_ have to teach during the next one,” he says, “so if we’re all good…”

“Just about,” I say. I’m filling out the last form. I stand up just as the bell rings and hand him the stack of papers.

“Perfect!” he says and Pilar hands him a stack, too as Mr. Hartsock rushes from the room. “We’ll see you both in a couple weeks!”

“Thank you!” I tell him and then we turn around to leave.

We’re almost out of the room when I notice someone stop at the water fountain in the short hallway and freeze. He runs a hand through his hair as he bends down and I don’t even realize I’m staring until he stands back up and our eyes meet for a second. I try to, but I can’t look away. He is honestly the most attractive person I’ve ever seen in my entire life. It’s not until he half smirks and walks past me that I realize my mom and sister are already three steps ahead of me. I swallow hard and fight the urge to turn around and stare some more as I rush to catch up with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, that was Benji Victor just saw.
> 
> [Not that you need to know this, but he was coming from Art (around the corner) to Mr. Fairchild's 3rd period Guitar class.]


	3. Part 1C - New Neighbors and Awkward Dinners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of part 1.
> 
> The stage is now set for the remainder of the story.

It’s almost three that afternoon, when my mom walks back the hallway to my bedroom door. “Victor, mi amor?”

“Si?” I look up at her from where I’m trying to organize my desk.

“Can you take some trash down to the dumpster for me, please?”

“Of course,” I say, jumping to my feet to follow her back to the kitchen.

As I’m walking back toward the apartment building, someone says “Hey!” behind me and I whirl around. It’s a guy that looks about my age. He has messy brown hair and is carrying a backpack that has a set of drumsticks sticking out of one of the side pockets.

“Hi?” I say.

“You’re new here, right?” I nod. “Felix,” he says, holding out a hand.

I shake his hand. “Victor.”

“Just moved in?”

I nod. “We got in yesterday.”

“Where're you from?”

“Texas.”

“Wow,” he says with wide eyes. “You… in school?”

“We finished before Memorial Day back home, so we’ll start next year.”

“Cool,” he says.

I nod to the drumsticks. “You drum?”

He chuckles. “Yeah, I guess. I do band.”

“Cool. Me, too,” I say. “Um, we were just at the school this morning. I met the band director…”

“Fairchild’s cool,” he says. “Are you doing marching band, or?”

“Yeah!” I say.

“Oh sweet! Do you know what part you want yet?”

“Um, I played snare last year…”

“Cool, what grade are you going into?”

“I’ll be a sophomore.”

“Me, too!” he says with a huge grin. “I do pit, because I have really bad asthma and it makes it hard for me to march.”

“Oh, that’s nice. My sister,” I say glancing toward the building, “is doing color guard. She’ll be a freshman.”

“That’s cool. Um, I don’t know if you have plans or anything, but I’m pretty free if you wanted to, uh, hang out or something.”

“Oh, yeah, that’d be cool.” I think for a second. “Give me your number?” I pull my phone out to enter the contact. He gives me his number and I save it and then text him so he has mine, too.

We talk for a while longer until my mom texts me and asks if I got lost. I laugh and excuse myself to go back inside. When I get back to the apartment, I tell my mom about meeting Felix and she’s excited that I’m already making friends. When I get back to my room, I pull out the information Mr. Fairchild had given me and start trying to practice the tryout pieces. I put my practice pad on my bed to dampen the sound and then I lose track of time until my phone dings with an email notification.

> **To:** victorsalazar@gmail.com
> 
> **From:** s_garrett@easdpa.org
> 
> **Date:** June 4, 2019 at 4:05 PM
> 
> **Subject:** Summer Percussion Information
> 
> Hey Victor!
> 
> Mr. Fairchild gave me your information earlier and I wanted to reach out and let you know about our game plan for summer rehearsals and line auditions. He mentioned that you played snare last year at your old school. I trust he gave you my percussion packet. If you’re interested in a line position (snare, bass, or tenors; we don't march plates), please look over the tryout pieces and practice before next Thursday night (June 13). We’ll have a percussion only rehearsal 6-9 that night and that’s when we’ll be doing the tryouts. The first full ensemble rehearsal is the next Tuesday the 18th 6-9 as well. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions at this point and I’ll try to help you out the best I can. If you want to stop by the middle school this week after school (2:45 or so) I can go through some of our stuff with you. You definitely don’t have to, but if you want just let me know if tomorrow or Thursday works best.
> 
> Mr. Steve Garrett
> 
> Band Director at Ephrata Middle School
> 
> Assistant Director and Percussion Caption Head for EHSMU

I quickly reply that I’ll stop by the middle school the next afternoon and he lets me know that he’ll meet me outside the main entrance. I go back to practicing the tryout pieces until I hear my dad come in from work. Dinner is weird. We tell my dad about band and my mom brings up the Disney trip already. I know they aren’t going to be able to afford three thousand dollars to send both of us, so I don’t know why she even bothers.

“That’s a lot of money,” he says.

My mom nods and glances at us. “It would be a good experience for them,” she says. “And the director said something about fundraisers to earn part of it.”

My dad nods. “We’ll have to see.”

My mom doesn’t press it any further. That’s when I remember my agreement to meet Mr. Garrett tomorrow afternoon. “Hey, um, the middle school director that does the percussion stuff emailed me earlier,” I say looking at my mom. She nods. “He asked me to stop by the middle school tomorrow afternoon so he could show me some stuff. Would that be okay?”

“Of course, mijo. What time?”

“After school. Like 2:45?” She nods and smiles. “Oh, Papi!” I say and he looks at me. “When I was taking trash out earlier, I met a kid that lives a couple buildings over. He’s in band, too, and we exchanged numbers so we might hang out or something.”

“Very nice!” my dad says. “I’m so glad you’re already making friends, Victor.”

The rest of the night is fine; normal. My dad’s parents call and he passes the phone to both me and Pilar so they can talk to us. It’s not that I don’t love my Abuela Nati and Abuelo Tito, but they can be a little much sometimes. I excuse myself to my room at 9 and get my pajamas together before heading across the hall to the bathroom for a shower.

When I’m trying to sleep, I’m sort of startled by the fact that I can’t get the boy from the hallway this morning out of my head. I literally don’t even know his name. I haven’t said a word to him and yet he’s all my brain wants to think about tonight. His light brown hair that’s perfectly messy. His adorable smirking lips that I really want to kiss. And yeah, I really shouldn’t be thinking about this. I mean he’s probably straight anyway and who knows if I’ll really ever see him again. He could be a senior about to graduate for all I know. But trying not to think about him makes me think about him even more and sometimes fighting against what your brain wants to think about just isn’t worth it.


	4. Part 2A - Percussion Rudiments and New Friends

The next afternoon, I walk to the middle school for my meeting with Mr. Garrett. When I get there the busses are just pulling away and there’s a man standing outside the main entrance. He’s average height, and has short gray hair and gray goatee. Is this him?

“Victor?” he asks when I approach.

“Yeah,” I say and the man holds out his hand to shake mine.

“Mr. Garrett. It’s nice to meet you!”

“Same,” I say quietly.

He leads me inside. We cross the large lobby and go down a hallway to the left. We pass the auditorium on the left and a music classroom on the right and then he leads me back a short hallway on the left and into what I assume must be the middle school band room. “I just want to maybe get a feel for your experience and playing ability before Tuesday. Everyone else I’ve known for at least a few years,” he says as we walk toward the back of the room where the percussion equipment is set up.

“Oh, sure,” I say. “What did you want to hear?”

“Do you have any solo stuff you’ve worked on at all?”

I shake my head. “Not really.”

“Okay, let’s just go through some rudiments on snare since you said that’s what you played for marching season last year, alright?”

“Sure,” I agree and we walk over to the two concert snare drums.

“Actually, you know want. Let’s get a marching snare out. We have the old ones that the middle school band uses here.” I follow him into the instrument storage room and he pulls out a step ladder, so he can climb up to the top cubbies and pull down a marching snare and harness, which he hands to me.

“Let me grab you some sticks,” he says as we walk back into the band room and he disappears into his office which has a huge window that looks into the main room. He hands me a set of sticks when he returns. “You do have sticks at home, right?” I nod. “And a practice pad?”

“Yeah. I was already trying to work on some of the try out stuff last night and this morning,” I tell him.

“Great!” he says. “Um, do you know your rudiments?”

I nod. “Most of them, I think. Um, my directors back in Texas weren’t exactly big on percussion.” I laugh a little.

He nods. “The poster is behind you if you need help,” he says and he nods to the wall.

“Oh, sweet!” I say turning around to look. He chuckles.

“So, let’s just run through all forty quick so I can get a feel for your level and then we can talk a little more about marching season, okay?”

“Sure,” I agree and then we’re off.

“Single stroke roll,” he says and I play a few. “Single stroke four?” and we keep going until I play through all of them. “Not bad,” he says with a smile and he seems genuinely impressed which makes me feel a little better. “Just for reference, can you read pitched music, too?”

I nod. “Uh, yeah. My mom actually teaches piano or she did back in Texas, so I’ve been playing since I was little.”

“Oh! That’s good to know. And just so you know, we do also have a percussion ensemble. We don’t start until after marching season, but we meet after school on Fridays and we compete and do a lot of performances in the spring, if you’re interested. We’d love to have you join us.”

“Oh, wow, yeah,” I say. “That’d be excellent.”

He smiles. “Did you get a chance to look over the season calendar yet?”

I nod. “A little bit.”

“So, this month on Thursdays; starting next week, we’ll have percussion only rehearsals. Color guard meets at the same time, but we don’t actually interact. Next week, we’ll start with some ice breakers and such to make sure we all get to know each other. I think it’s really important that we as a section bond really well, because our cohesion is really important to making sure the show goes smoothly.” I nod. “Then we’ll get parts assigned and pass out show music and other music for the parade and stands tunes and all that. We might have time for a sectional or some breakouts, but I’m not counting on it.”

“Breakouts?”

“For us, when the hornline has sectionals, we’ll always start by meeting as the full drumline and the full pit and then a lot of times we’ll do breakouts. So the tenors will go off together, the snares, and the bassline so we can work on individual parts.”

“Oh.”

“That’s especially true during summer rehearsals. I’m your caption head of course, but we have a full-time tech named Rich who works mainly with the pit. He marched with the Cadets until he aged out and currently is one of the directors for United Indoor.”

“Oh wow.”

“And we have 3 summer techs this year that are going to help us out. Mr. Stokes, which I think I heard you met his wife yesterday, is going to help out with our bassline. Ivan, is going to help with snares and tenors, and Jo will help with everything.”

“Okay,” I say. I’m trying to find room in my brain to remember all these names.

“We also have a full-time visual tech, Don. He focuses mainly on the hornline, but he’ll also work with us occasionally on some visual aspects of the show. But you’ll get to know all them over the next couple of months.”

He goes over the rest of the summer plans in some detail with me which helps me feel a lot more prepared and then I head home. When I get there my mom asks how it went and I tell her. She doesn’t exactly understand percussion lingo, but she nods along and I laugh a little. “Well, I’m going to go practice, I guess,” I say and then I walk back to my room.

It’s almost 5:00 when I get a text from Felix. _Hey, I was going to walk downtown and get Chinese with some kids from band. Did you want to come? You can meet some people!_

_That sounds awesome. Let me ask my mom._

I walk out into the living room to find my mom sitting at the piano. “Hey, mom?” She looks up. “Um, that kid from a few buildings over, Felix. He just texted that he’s going to get Chinese food with some kids from band and asked if I wanted to join them. Would it be okay if I go?”

“Of course, mijo! I’m so glad you’re already making friends here.”

I pull out my phone and text Felix back. _My mom said that’s cool. When are going?_

_Gonna leave soon. It’s a bit of a walk. You can bring your sister, too if you want. There’s going to be a bunch of people including at least one guard person._

_I’ll ask her._

I walk back the hall to Pilar’s room and knock. “What?” she says angrily.

“Pilar,” I say. “Can I come in?”

“Oh,” she says. I know she was only angry because she thought I was our mom. “Yeah, sure.” I open the door. She’s sitting on her bed, staring at her phone.

“Um, I’m going to get Chinese food with some kids from band. You can come if you want.” She rolls her eyes. “Felix said a bunch of people were going including at least one other guard person. Maybe you could make some friends before the season even starts…” She groans. “You don’t have to, but I thought you might want to.”

“Is it all your age people, or?”

“Not sure, actually,” I say and then I pull my phone out to ask. _Is this all people our age, or?_

_Nope. At least a few that’ll be seniors and juniors. I think a couple people that graduated even and maybe some younger sibling soon to be freshmen._

_Sweet._ I look back to my sister. “Nope. He said there’s even some younger sibling soon to be freshmen coming.” She rolls her eyes and I raise my eyebrows at her. “So?”

“Fine, I’ll come.”

“Good!” I say and then I walk out of her room to go tell our mom that she’s coming with me. Our mom is absolutely overjoyed that I’ve somehow managed to convince my sister to leave her room and I sort of laugh.

“So, are we doing this or what?” Pilar says, appearing behind me.

“Yep, let’s go,” I say and we head outside. Felix is already waiting for us. He leads us up the first part of the giant hill toward the school, but then he turns left at the first light. “Where are we going anyway?” I ask.

“China Taste,” he says. “It’s downtown. The only Chinese food worth eating in Ephrata,” he explains.

“Cool.”

“How many people are coming?” Pilar asks.

“Uh, probably like 15? I don’t actually know who all is coming. Ally just texted me after school and said ‘the crew’, so,” he says and shrugs.

“Do they know you’re bringing us?” I ask.

He nods. “I told Ally I was going to bring a couple new kids.”

It’s a long walk, twenty-five minutes or so. Felix keeps pointing out random things as we’re going. “Everyone and their mom works at this car wash,” he says with a laugh. “Like seriously. I think Cassie's mom is actually dating the assistant manager?”

“Weird,” I say. “Who’s Cassie?”

“Oh! I’m sure she’ll be here. She’s gonna be a senior. She’s in pit, but plays bass clarinet for concert band.”

“Cool,” I say.

We cross under an overpass and then there’s a Papa John’s followed by a string of houses. On the other side of the road there’s a sign for the “Ephrata Cloister” and I ask Felix what that is. “Oh, it’s like this historic place. They make us go there on a field trip in fourth grade.” He laughs a little. “Uh, I think it’s where Ephrata got its start of something. They have a youth volunteer program that Mindy does. It’s pretty cool.”

“Mindy?”

He laughs. “Right, uh, she’s the color guard person I mentioned. I think she’s actually a co-captain this year. She should be graduating tomorrow, but she has to do another year. I think she failed English or something? I don’t know.”

We keep walking. There’s a restaurant and a gas station on our side of the road and then what looks like it must be where they keep the ambulances followed by a huge brick building on the other side. “That’s the Gerber building,” Felix says. “Or well, it was. It’s now a bunch of things. A church. Beam’s is in there now; local music store.” He shrugs. We cross a creek and he points across the road. “That’s one way to get into the park,” he says. And then it’s basically all houses on both sides of the street.

We finally reach what seems to be the business district. “Liquor store,” he says as we walk past. “Roma’s is pretty good,” he say as we walk past a pizza place. “That place is amazing. Pastries of every variety and half-decent coffee.” He points to a place called Scratch Bakes as we stop at a light. “China Taste is the other end of the Royer building” he says, pointing across the street.

“Felix!” I hear someone call from diagonally across the intersection and he turns.

“Oh, hey!” he waves for a second and then turns back to me. “That’s Teresa and her brother, Byron,” he says. “Byron’s gonna be a freshman. I think he’s doing pit from what she said. Teresa’ll be a senior; she plays trumpet.”

“There you are!” a blonde girl says when we finally stop in front of the restaurant.

“Hey, Ally,” Felix says. “This is Victor and Pilar.”

“Hey!” she says. “Everyone else is already inside. Oh! Hey, Teresa!” Teresa and Byron join us a moment later. “Full house today, geez.” Ally laughs as she opens the door and we all walk in.

We order food and push almost all of the tables in the restaurant into one big one as we crowd around it. There’s seventeen of us in total and it’s a little ridiculous.

“Okay, new kids!” one of the girls sitting across from us says. “Names, instruments, et cetera, please!”

I laugh a little. “Uh, I’m Victor. I’m a percussionist…”

“Line or pit?” the blond guy on the other side of Ally asks.

“I played snare last year…”

“Cool!” he says.

“And you,” the girl from before asks, nodding to my sister.

“Uh, Pilar,” she says. “I, uh, play Oboe, but I’m doing color guard, too.”

“Yes! More guard people!” the redhead on the end of the other side says.

“Maybe we should all go around and do that?” Felix says. “Just so they can know our names or whatever?”

“Oh, yeah, totally!” Ally agrees from next to him. “I assume you already know Felix?” she asks and I nod. “I’m Ally! I’m also in pit and play percussion in concert band, too. I’ll be a sophomore. Wait. What grades are you two in?”

“I’ll be a sophomore,” I say. “And Pilar’s gonna be a freshman.”

“Sweet!” Ally says and then she grabs the forearm of the guy sitting next to her.

“Mitch,” he says. “Ally’s boyfriend. Drumline. I’ll be a junior.”

“Cool,” I say. “What part do you usually play?”

“Bassline is my home,” he says.

“Nice,” I say and then we all look at the guy next to him.

“Joel. Trumpet. I’ll also be a junior. Um, I’m also the tech guy. Something breaks, I fix it.”

“Rambo is the staff’s favorite,”: the girl directly across from Felix says.

“Rambo?” I ask.

Joel chuckles. “That’s me! Um, Mrs. Smith, the woodwind tech, started that last year. The jacket I usually wear is camo.”

I laugh. “Ah, alright,” I say and then we turn to the redhead next to him.

“Krista,” she says. “Color Guard co-captain! I’ll be a senior. Also, dating Joel for whatever it’s worth,” she adds with a laugh.

“Mindy,” the next girl says. “Also a color guard co-captain, also going to be a senior.”

The girl that had been speaking earlier is next. “I’m Jen!” she says with a huge grin. “I’m graduating tomorrow, so you won’t really see much of me. I played clarinet.”

“I’m Amy,” the girl next to her says. She’s very skinny, wearing glasses and has hair so dark I’d almost think it was black. “I also play clarinet. I graduated last year. I go to Clarion University now. Still do band though!”

“And I’m Emilee, Amy’s sister,” the next girl says and that should have been obvious. Emilee’s hair is a little lighter and she doesn’t have glasses, but their faces are incredibly similar. “Um, I’m the sax section leader next year. I’ll be a senior.”

“Cassie. Pit for marching band. Bass Clarinet for concert. I’ll be a senior,” the next girl says.

“Theresa with an h,” the next girl says. “Flute, about to be a senior.”

“Ellen, also flute, also about to be a senior,” the next one says.

“Clare, um, I play bassoon in concert band, but I’ll be in color guard. I’m Ellen’s little sister and I’ll be a freshman.” I nudge Pilar; that seems like a good potential friend, but she doesn’t say anything.

“Teresa, no h,” is next. “Trumpet, I’ll be a senior.”

“Byron,” says the last person. “I’ll be a freshman. I’m doing pit. I actually play piano, but Teresa is so obsessed with marching band I had to see what all the fuss was about and Disney World doesn’t hurt.” Everyone kind of laughs and we actually start eating.

The conversation flows and it’s actually really cool. I really think I’m going to like it here. It’s almost an hour later when we’re about to leave. “Cassie,” Teresa (without an h) says as we’re walking to the door. “Where are Matt and Mike? I half-expected them to come with you.” Cassie chuckles and rolls her eyes. “My aunt’s being weird. She’s freaking out about graduation or something. I have no idea. Plus, Chad’s been giving Matt a hard time again for God knows what reason.”

“Ah, relationship drama,” Teresa says with a chuckle.

“Yeah, if that’s what we’re calling it. Anyway. I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” she says and she waves as she walks up the street.

We all separate over the next couple minutes. Most people are going to cars parked along the road until it’s just Felix, Pilar, and I along with Teresa and Byron. “Ready to play pomp and circumstance twenty billion times tomorrow night?” Teresa asks, nudging Felix’s arm.

“God no. Graduation band is the actual worst,” he says with a groan.

“You can say that again,” Teresa agrees. Then she looks at me and Pilar. “Hey, it was really good to meet you guys.” She smiles at us. “Look forward to getting to know you better during the season.”

“Thanks,” I say. “Nice meeting you, too.”

After a round of goodbyes, Teresa and Byron cross the street one way and the three of us cross the opposite way and start walking home. “This might be a weird question, but who was that that Teresa asked Cassie about as we were leaving?” I say to Felix a few blocks later.

“Huh?” he says and then he thinks for a second. “Oh! Matt and Mike. They’re Cassie’s cousins. Matt’s graduating tomorrow and Mike’ll be a junior next year. Matt plays French horn and mello. Mike plays baritone.”

“Cool,” I say and then I’m quite for a minute. “And whose Chad?”

He laughs. “Matt’s boyfriend. He was in guard, graduated last year. It sounds like they’ve been having some issues lately, but that’s nothing new, honestly. Chad’s a bit of a trainwreck.”

And _oh_. He’s just so completely casual mentioning that that _Matt_ has a _boy_ friend and it’s so… refreshing? I don’t even know. That would be a huge ass deal in Texas. No one would even talk to them probably, but here, it seems like it’s just a thing.

“Are there a lot of couples in the band?” I ask. I want to know more about whether there’s other gay couples, but I don’t want to ask that directly.

Felix nods and shrugs. “There’s definitely a lot of intra-band dating; that’s for sure. I don’t know where he was today, but Emilee’s boyfriend Cory also plays sax. And Cassie’s boyfriend Shawn played trumpet but he graduated last year and never comes to dinner with us anymore which is exceedingly lame. Mindy and Joel actually dated before Krista and Joel got together which was just awkward for a while and I think Cassie actually dated him briefly before Mindy did.” Felix chuckles. “But yeah. And that’s just this group. There’s a whole mess of couples in band. It’s kind of hard to keep track of, but once the season starts, you’ll figure out who's with who pretty fast.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi my name is Cassie and I am 100% writing myself into this story. All first names given at that dinner correspond to actual humans I've been in band with over the years. As a note, I never actually dated Joel; we were just really good friends. I don't think he and Mindy actually dated earlier, but they got closer than I ever did, lol.


	5. Part 2B - First Percussion Rehearsal, Part 1

The next week is a little weird. I spend a lot of time practicing the try-out pieces. I can play them all perfectly, but I’m still nervous for God knows what reason. But the weirdest part, is that every single night when I’m trying to sleep, I keep picturing that boy from the hallway and _Jesus Christ_ I wish my brain would stop. And yet I sort of don’t. It's also weird because we don't go to mass on Sunday. My mom goes, but the rest of us stay home and no one even says anything about it.

On Thursday, I get a text from Felix. _Gonna leave at about 5:30 to walk to the school. Wanna walk together?_

_Sure. We’ll meet you outside._

Felix, Pilar, and I walk to the school and Felix shows us where the side band room door is. Inside that door is Mr. Garrett with a clipboard. “Felix! Victor!” he says when we walk in.

“Hey, Mr. Garrett,” Felix says.

“And, you are?”

“This is my sister, Pilar,” I say. “She’s in guard.”

“Ah,” he says. “Mr. Hartsock is over in the choir room. You can head around.” He points to the door.

“Where…”

“It’s the other music room,” Felix says. “Next door.”

“Oh,” she says. “Okay,” and then she disappears out of the band room.

Felix and I walk toward the large group of people sitting in one corner of the room. I recognize Mitch, Ally, Cassie, and Byron from dinner last week, but the other faces are foreign. “Where are all of our fearless leaders?” Felix jokes as we join them.

“Coordinating, I think,” a tall black kid says. “Who are you?” he asks me.

“Uh, Victor. I’m new.”

He nods a little. “Andrew.”

“Nice to meet you,” I say and he just rolls his eyes and turns back to two other guys he was talking to before we walked over.

Felix starts rambling to me about something and we never manage to sit down. When I look toward the door, I see the actual last person I’m expecting. The guy from the hallway is walking into the room and I sort of freeze and stare, because apparently that’s going to be a thing. He meets my eyes and then walks over and stops next to Felix. Felix glances at him.

“Oh, hey, Benji,” Felix says.

“Hey, Felix,” he says and then he looks back at me. He points to my shoes. “Nice shoes. Vintage Nike Cortezes?”

I glance down and then I look at him and I somehow manage to speak. “Yeah. Yeah, my mom got ‘em at a garage sale just because they were my size. She didn’t even know how cool they were. Not saying that my shoes are cool.”

“No, they are,” he insists. “It sounds like those shoes were your destiny. If you believe in that kind of thing.”

“Yeah,” I say. “Yeah, I do… believe in, um, cool kicks.”

The outside door slams shut and it startles us. Benji looks toward Mr. Garrett. “Well, it was really nice meeting you...” he says and holds out his hand toward me.

I hesitate and then I shake it. “Victor.”

“Benji,” he says with a smile.

Then he walks toward Mr. Garrett and I notice a tall skinny kid with curly hair and two girls walk in from the hallway to join them. “Benji’s chill,” Felix says. “Also, he’s gay, just so you know. I mean I don’t have a problem with it, but.” He shrugs and I really hope my face doesn’t give me away because _oh_.

“Is he… a section leader?” I ask glancing toward the group of nine still standing near the door. They’re talking animatedly about something. Mr. Garrett, Benji, and the three that just entered are joined by four people who definitely look like adults, so I assume they must be the techs Mr. Garrett mentioned.

“Yeah, yeah. He’s the junior line captain. And Chris,” he says nodding toward them, “is the senior captain. Linsey and Val are co-section leaders for pit.” I look back to Felix and he shrugs a little. “They’re all chill. I mean, Linsey and Val can be a bit much, but you get used to 'em.”

Well, that complicates things more than anticipated. I actually have to be around him… a lot. This could be… interesting. Mr. Garrett walks toward us with the student leaders behind him. “Alright everyone, we’re gonna get started. We probably won't actually rehearse too much today, but I wanna get parts assigned and we’ll do some ice breakers or something, because we have quite a few freshmen, and our new addition, Victor, here.” He pauses for a second. “Let's just start with introductions, I guess. You all know me and then we have four total techs on staff with us this year, so I’m going to have them introduce themselves first. Rich?”

“Alright, I’m Rich. I’ll be with you all season. I’ll be working mostly with the front ensemble. I played with the Cadets for 6 years until I aged out and I’m one of the directors for United Indoor Percussion these days.”

“I’m Mr. Stokes, Pastor Dean, whatever you wanna call me. I’ll be with you for the summer and maybe a little bit through the season. I’m the pastor of Ephrata Church of the Brethren. Married and have three kids. My oldest son, Mitchell is a freshman trumpet player, but I was in drumline and then a drum major when I was a student at Ephrata in the 80s. I’ll probably work mostly with the bassline.”

“I’m Ivan. Graduated from Ephrata in ’06. I’ll be with you for the summer. I work in IT full-time, but I always really loved marching band and also play guitar and sing. Married; have two little girls at home. I’ll probably work mostly with the tenors and snares and some with the pit.”

“I’m Jolyn or you can call me Jo,” the only woman says. “I graduated from Ephrata in ’07. I’ll be with you just for the summer. I teach math at Columbia High School, but I live over this way. Married to my husband, Travis, who is also a former EHSMU drummer and we have two little boys. I’ll probably work mostly with the snares and maybe with the pit.”

“Thank you,” Mr. Garrett says. “I’m going to let your student leaders introduce themselves next and then we’ll just go around, okay?” We all nod a little and he gestures for the tall skinny kid with curly hair to start.

“Alright, um,” he says. “I’m Chris. I’ll be your senior percussion captain for the season. My mom is also your BPA president this year and my dad'll be the announcer as always.”

"Smooth-talkin' Joe," someone says and a few others laugh. Chris gestures to the guy from the hallway.

“I’m Benji. I’m your junior drumline captain. Really excited for the season!” he gestures to the taller of the girls.

“I'm Linsey!" she says excitedly. “One of your pit section leaders.” She looks to the other girl.

“I'm Val, the other pit section leader,” she says.

Mr. Garrett takes over again. “Okay, the rest of you. I want you name, grade, and what part or parts you’d most like. Savannah, kick us off, please,” he says and points to a girl in the corner.

“Okay, um, I’m Savannah, senior, bassline.”

“Shane, freshman, probably just pit,” he says and shrugs.

“Auxiliary or mallets, Shane?” Mr. Garrett asks.

“Auxiliary, probably.” Mr. Garrett nods and gestures for the next person to go.

“Ryan, also a freshman, and pit auxiliary, too, I think.”

“I’m Sue, freshman,” the next girl says. “I think I wanna do bass.”

“Mitch, junior, bassline.”

“Ally, sophomore, vibes in pit.”

“Cassie, senior, whatever mallet instrument in pit.” She laughs at herself.

“Christina, sophomore, marimba probably.”

“Byron, freshman, pit. I actually play piano, so whatever.”

“You’re Teresa’s brother, right?” Mr. Garrett asks and Byron nods.

“Felix, sophomore, pit,” he says. “Uh, Timpani, probably.”

“Victor, sophomore. I played snare last year at my old school.” I shrug a little.

“Andrew, sophomore. Tenors preferably, but snare or bass or whatever.”

“Kieran, sophomore, bassline.”

“Teddy, sophomore, bassline.”

“Actually, it sounds like you guys are already pretty much organized for parts, so this shouldn’t be too difficult. Why don’t we get that bit out of the way though,” Mr. Garrett says. “Chris and Andrew can take tenors. Benji and Victor on snare. Savannah, Mitch, Teddy, Kieran, and Sue for baseline.” He pauses. “I still want to hear all of you play the try-out pieces later and basses we’ll have to figure out who gets which drum, but,” he says and then he shrugs.

And I suddenly hate everything. I didn’t know Benji was going to be the only other snare. We didn't march tenors at Graham, so there were four snares last year. And now I’m suddenly thinking about those breakouts during sectionals Mr. Garrett mentioned last week and how that means I’m probably going to end up alone with this boy that’s too attractive for his own good on a regular basis. And now I know that he's actually gay, so there’s that and _Jesus Christ_ what is my life?

“For the pit. Let’s go with: Linsey, vibes 1; Ally, vibes 2. Val, marimba 1 and Christina, marimba 2. Cassie bells. Byron Xylo. Felix timpani. Shane and Ryan on aux.” He looks around. “I think that’s everyone. Are we all satisfied with those assignments?”

We all nod in agreement and I catch Benji biting his lip and smiling at me. When our eyes meet, I swear he smirks a little and laughs silently. I try not the think about what that means as I turn my attention back to Mr. Garrett. “Let me grab some music real quick,” he says and he walks toward Mr. Fairchild’s office. He comes back with a large folder. “Linsey and Val, here’s the pit show music. Distribute that and then you guys can go out to the truck; I unlocked it already and maybe set up under the overhang and get to work?”Linsey and Val nod and I see all of the people assigned to pit, including Felix follow them toward the door. Rich goes last, pushing the door shut behind them. “Let’s go get the drums!” Mr. Garrett announces next and we all follow Chris and Benji out of the room. It turns out one of the unmarked doors in the hallway near the art classrooms is the percussion storage closet which Mr. Garrett unlocks. "Chris, here's the key then. Don't lose it!" he says and Chris holds out his hand for Mr. Garrett to drop a key into it.

"I'll put it on my key ring. Thanks," Chris says and he pulls a set of keys out of his pocket. We start pulling everything out and once there’s a mess of drums and harnesses in the hallway, Mr. Garrett nods. “Okay, bassline we’ll start with you. Do any of you have a preference on which drum you want?”

“Can I have three?” Mitch asks.

“I want one!” Savannah announces.

“I’ll take two?” Sue asks.

“That leaves you two,” Mr. Garrett says to Teddy and Kieran. “Preferences?” They both shrug. “Kieran five; Teddy four,” he decides. “Grab those, please.” The bassline picks up their drums and harnesses. “You four,” he says looking to the rest of us. “Grab your drums. We’re gonna go outside so we don’t echo too much in here. But I think we'll stay in the parking lot for today.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Savannah and Shane are true OCs. Everyone else named is a real life human or a Love, Victor character.


	6. Part 2C - First Percussion Rehearsal, Part 2

A little while later we’re in the parking lot and I can hear the pit playing somewhere but I don’t see them. Mr. Garrett has each of us play the try-out piece for our instrument and everyone does well. Benji is practically perfect and it’s honestly a little intimidating. I mess up a few things, but nothing major. Mr. Garrett hands out our show music and I’m a little overwhelmed at first, but I guess that’s to be expected. “The winds already got their music at the kick off meeting,” Mr. Garrett says. “So, we’re a little behind, but I trust you guys to look over this and practice so we’re ready for the down tempo play through on Tuesday night in two weeks.” He glances at the three techs behind him. “Ivan take the tenors; Jo the snares; Dean the basses. I’m going to go between all of you and also go check on our friends in pit around the corner. Just start with some of our warm-ups and then I need you all to learn the cadence; that music should be in with the show music I handed you. We’ll need that on Tuesday.”

We all divide out and I just follow Jolyn and Benji toward the stadium. We end up under a tree. “Benji, you know the snare part for the cadence already, right?”

“Yeah. I’ve played it for two years. I’m good.” He laughs.

“Right,” Jolyn says and then she smiles at me. “Victor, right?” I nod. “You’re new. Just move?”

“Yeah.”

“Where ya from?” she asks.

“Texas,” I say with an uncomfortable laugh.

“Wow. Why Ephrata?”

“My dad got a job here.”

She nods a little and I notice Benji is also watching with rapt attention which I don’t know what to think of. “Siblings? Where d’you live? All that good stuff…”

“I have a sister. Pilar, she’s a freshman. She is color guard. Uh, we live at Cloister Gardens… apartment complex.”

Jolyn nods and I see Benji nodding, too. “Very nice. Alright, well, you need to learn the cadence. Do you guys actually wanna do warm-ups or?”

Benji shrugs. “I don’t need to,” I say.

“Perfect. Find the music for the cadence,” she says and I flip through the pack of papers Mr. Garrett handed me to find the one labeled "Cadence".

“Got it!” I say finally.

“Cool. Let’s run it half-speed and see what you can do,” she says. “Benji, play along.”

“You got it,” he says.

Jolyn pulls a pair of drumsticks out of her back pocket. “Ivan and Rich stole the gocks, so I’m just gonna stick click for you guys,” she says and then she does. We go through the whole thing super slowly. “That was really good for a sight-read, Victor. Let’s try it up tempo a little,” Jolyn says and then she clicks her sticks slightly faster and we try again. This continues until we’re at a full march tempo. We play it a few times over and then when she’s satisfied, she looks around until she spots Ivan and the tenors over by the school. “Let’s go see if we can put it together with them,” she says and starts walking.

I glance at Benji and he smiles at me, so I smile back because I can’t not. When we reach the tenors, Ivan looks up and waves. “Hey! Ready to try this together?” he asks.

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Jolyn says. “Victor here caught on really quick. He and Benji are really in sync; it’s kind of crazy.”

“Like you and Jess always were?”

“Exactly!” Jolyn says with a laugh. “Anyway, you wanna gock it?”

“Sure,” Ivan says. “Are you at full tempo?” Jolyn nods. “Sweet.” Ivan starts tapping off on an electric blue gockblock and counts us in. It’s a little sloppy the first time through, but we get it together quickly and we’re finally settling in when Mr. Stokes and the basses walk over to join us with Mr. Garrett right behind them.

We put the whole thing together and it actually sounds pretty good by the time someone looks at a watch and realizes it’s 8:45. “Alright, let’s get the drums put away and we’ll have a quick meeting in the band room once pit joins us,” Mr. Garrett says and he pulls out his phone and starts typing.

I follow Benji into the school. Someone put a doorstop in one of the glass doors by the auditorium. We drop off our drums and harnesses in the storage closet and walk down the stairs and into the band room. Benji sits down next to me. We're quiet for a second and then he says, “Why do I feel like I’ve seen you before tonight?” and it’s probably just me, but it sounds like he knows the answer to his own question.

“I don’t know,” I say with a shrug. “I literally just moved her from Texas last week, so…”

“Wait, were you down her last… Tuesday?”

“Um, Mrs. Stokes brought me and Pilar to meet Mr. Fairchild,” I say absently. “Maybe you saw me then?”

“That’s definitely it,” he says with a smirk and I could swear that entire conversation was his way of telling me that he remembers those ten seconds as much as I do. Felix walks through the side door with the rest of pit including Val and Cassie moving a huge marimba and Linsey pushing a Vibraphone.

“Guys, it’s summer,” Mr. Garrett says. “Those can stay on the truck until August if you want.” He laughs a little.

“Crap, I forgot about that,” Linsey says. Mr. Garrett chuckles again.

“Anyway, just a few quick notes before we head out tonight.” Everyone scrambles into chairs to look at him as he continues. “First full rehearsal is going to be next Tuesday and I was talking to Mr. Fairchild earlier. He’s actually planning on a no instrument rehearsal. He wants to get basics down before we start anything else. Chris or Benji, one of you can gock us across the street and we’ll hold off on the cadence so we don’t have to take drums over. Pit, you’re going to be joining us for basics because you do still need to march in the parade; especially those of you coming to Disney. Make sure you bring plenty on water with you for that one, guys; first movement rehearsal of the season can really surprise you as our vets all know.” Everyone sort of nods in agreement. “You also need to bring your binders and make sure they're on strings by then, please. Basses, I know you don’t usually do strings, but please do for this rehearsal, at least. It’ll just make everything easier. Now, this Saturday we’re going to have a percussion bonding activity or well you are; I’m not coming, but your section leaders agreed on it earlier.”

“Pool party at Benji’s?” someone asks. I don’t see who.

Mr. Garrett nods. “Pool party at Benji’s,” he confirms.

“Yes!” a bunch of people say at once.

“Benji?” Mr. Garrett says and Benji chuckles as he stands up.

“Yeah, so you guys can come over anytime after noon and we’ll probably hang out until 8 or so. My mom’s gonna make hamburgers and hot dogs per usual. Freshmen and newbies, address is 308 East Fulton. This is going to be percussion only. We want to have a little section bonding time to try to get us all on the same page with each other,” he says grinning. "Um, parents can stay if they want or just drop off if you don't drive."

“I work until two,” Cassie says, “but I’ll come after.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. I know it’s a little last minute, so if you can’t make it, we understand, but try to let one of the four of us know so we know not to worry when you’re not there.” He grins again. “Also, please remember to bring your towels this year. My mom was so pissed when she had to wash like three loads of towels after last year,” he says, laughing. He returns to to his seat and our eyes meet. He smirks and I quickly look away.

“Alright,” Mr. Garrett says, “then we are good to go for the evening and I’ll see you all on Tuesday night!”

Felix walks over and asks if I’m ready to go and I nod. “But we need to find Pilar,” I say.

“Oh, true,” he says. “They’re probably in the gym. I didn’t seem them go over to the field.” I follow him out of the band room into the school. It’s sort of weird to be in a school this late at night, but we follow the hallway the whole way down, past the cafeteria until I see a bunch of color guard people streaming out of a door including my sister.

“Pilar,” I call out to her and she turns. She nods and then comes to join us. “Ready?” She nods again and we start walking back the way we came from. “So, how was it?” She shrugs. “Pilar, seriously. You’re not gonna make any friends if you don’t talk.”

She rolls her eyes. “I mean, some of the girls are fine, I guess. I don’t know. Mr. Hartsock's really cool.”

I smile. “That’s good at least.”


	7. Part 2D - Percussion Pool Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of part 2.

On Friday at dinner, I decide I need to bring up the pool party to my parents. “Hey, Mom,” I say. She looks at me. “Um, one of my section leaders invited us over to go swimming tomorrow. Something about a percussion bonding activity…”

She raises her eyebrows. “A private pool?”

“Yeah, at this guy’s house.”

She nods. “Will his parents be there?”

“He said his mom’s making dinner, so I assume so?”

She nods again. “That’s fine then. What time? Do you need a ride?”

“Uh, noon, and actually I have no idea where it is. I can ask Felix though.”

“Let us know, please.”

After dinner, I text Felix. _Hey, where is Benji’s house exactly? For this pool party…_

_Other side of town. It’s like almost two miles, but I usually walk._

_My mom asked if I needed a ride._

_It’s actually a pretty nice walk, tbh, but maybe she could give us a ride home?_

_I’ll see. Thanks._

On Saturday when I’m getting ready to leave, my mom asks about a thousand times If I’m sure we don’t need a ride there and I tell her Felix has walked it before and we’ll be fine, but she still seems concerned when I head out the door in my swim trunks, a t-shirt and with a towel over my shoulder. Felix is waiting when I get outside.

“Hey, ready to go?”

“Yep!” I say and he leads the way. We walk the same direction as when we were going to the Chinese place, but he crosses the street at one of the lights and we turn down the road that the entrance to the park is off of.

When we get to the first real intersection after that, Felix points to the right. “This is actually the other end of the road the school’s on,” he says. “The parade comes down this way, so you’ll definitely see it again.” He chuckles.

“When is the parade?”

“September,” he says. “During the fair.”

“There’s a fair?”

“Hell, yes, there’s a fair. It’s like the only good thing about living in Ephrata.”

“Okay,” I say and I sort of look at him.

“Oh my God,” he says and he sounds almost exasperated. “It’s glorious. They shut down Main Street for a week and it’s the biggest street fair in the country or something and the food and the rides and games. It’s _amazing_ , Victor, just you wait.”

“If you say so.” He shakes his head as if he doesn't understand why I'm not as excited as he is.

We walk for a little longer and then we’re coming up on a traffic light. “We’re meeting Byron up here at State Street. They live like a block up,” Felix says.

“Oh,” I say and then I see Bryon come into view up ahead and he waves to us so we wave back.

“Hey!” he says when we get closer.

“’Sup, man,” Felix says as we cross the street.

“Um,” I look at Byron. “This is probably a little weird, but I noticed almost everyone around here is white… are you… latino?”

Byron chuckles. “Technically, yeah. Teresa and I were adopted. We’re both from Guatemala. Our parents are super white though.”

“Oh,” I say.

“You are, too, right?” he says. “Latino…”

“Yeah, yeah. My mom’s from Puerto Rico and my dad’s parents moved to Texas from Colombia before he was born.”

“Cool. Do you, like, speak Spanish at home?”

I shrug. “A little bit. My grandparents always complain that we don’t speak more,” I say with a laugh. A little later we walk in front of an elementary school. “Oh is this where you guys went?”

“I did,” Byron says.

“I went to Clay. The district lines are weird,” Felix says with a shrug.

We have to cross both ways at the intersection on the other side of the school, because there’s not sidewalk on our side of the street afterwards. “What’s this place?” I ask, pointing to a weirdly shaped and oddly green building on our left.

They both chuckle. “The hearse garage.” Byron says.

“What?”

“The hearse garage,” he repeats. “The one funeral home doesn’t have enough parking up on Main Street, so when they’re not using them, they park the hearses down here.”

“Creepy,” I say and we keep walking.

We're still walking for a while longer and then I can see a curve in the road a little ahead. “It’s just around that corner,” Felix says pointing.

“You know the last time I was down here was when _Cassie_ lived there,” Byron says, laughing.

“Huh?” I say.

“Oh, right, you wouldn’t know about that,” Felix says. “Benji’s parents bought this house from Cassie’s mom and step-dad when they got divorced years ago. Cassie and Byron’s sister have been friends since like fourth grade or something, so they used to come over here when they were kids.”

“Yep, they met right after we transferred to public school.”

“You used to go to a private school?”

Bryon nods. “OMPH,” he says and I don’t understand.

“Oompf?” I ask.

He laughs. “O.M.P.H.” he spells. “The catholic school, but we were getting picked on because it’s even more white than Ephrata public schools.”

“Yikes,” I say.

He shrugs. “Teresa had it worse that I did,” he says.

After a couple houses, Felix and Byron turn into the driveway of a tiny blue Cape Cod style house. It’s definitely not what I was anticipating when I found out there was a pool. We walk back the driveway between the cars and I can hear people talking. We get to the grass and I see a huge bright blue fence with a gate standing ajar at the bottom of a set of stairs that lead down form a large deck on the back of the house.

“Hey, guys!” someone says and we all look up to see Benji walking out the backdoor of the house. He’s not wearing a shirt and _holy shit_ my heart is suddenly going haywire and my stomach is in my throat.

“Hey,” Felix says and he just walks through the gate like he didn’t just see a God in the flesh. I notice Byron swallow hard, too and I wonder for a second.

“Oh, you two are new, uh, if you need to use the bathroom, it’s inside, just ask someone that’s been here and we can show you. But be forewarned, my mother is in there watching TV and she’s going to be awkward as hell,” Benji says as he joins us at the bottom of the stairs. He’s carrying a cooler. We follow him through the gate and he sets the cooler on a white metal table on the other side of a blue shed.

“Drinks?” a girl asks. I think her name's Savannah, but I can’t be sure.

“Yep. There’s waters and sodas and what not. My mom’ll make the burgers and hot dogs and bring some snacks out on the deck later,” Benji says. He turns back to me and Bryon, “Uh there’s like balls and diving sticks and shit in the shed,” he says, pointing. “Stay off the weight deck though, my dad's a little nuts.” I notice a raised deck on the other side of the shed with what looks like a full home gym set up on it. “I’m going to put the rope swing up and turn the waterfall on.”

Benji disappears into the shed for a second and comes back with a long piece of thick rope that has a carabineer clip on one end. He walks up a couple steps onto a wood structure at the end of the pool. He climbs precariously onto a railing and it takes everything in me to not freak out. He clips the rope onto a metal loop hanging over the water. He looks at me for a second and I’m pretty sure my face must display the amount of concern I’m feeling because he laughs loudly and pretends to fall as he splashes into the water.

I scream. Felix looks at me with raised eyebrows as Benji resurfaces in the water. “I’m sorry, but you face was the actual greatest thing,” Benji says as he swims toward the far side of the pool near where there’s a waterfall made of rocks. Benji reaches back beside the rocks and must flick a switch because suddenly water begins falling.

“That’s really cool,” I say looking at the waterfall.

“Cassie’s stepdad built it.”

“Ex-stepdad,” Felix says.

“Yeah, him,” Benji says.

“Hey, party people!” someone shouts and I turn to look just as Chris, Val, and Linsey all walk in. A few minutes later Andrew, Teddy, and Kieran arrive together. And then Mitch and Ally walk in. Everyone else arrives one at a time until the only person we’re missing is Cassie.

“Where’s Cassie?” I ask Felix.

“She works ‘til two, remember?” he says.

“Oh, right, she did say that,” I say. “Where does she work?”

“Wal-mart,” he says and I nod.

“Wait are Chris and Val together?” I ask him, looking toward where they’re standing next to each other in the water.

Felix laughs. “Oh, yeah.”

Cassie joins us a little after two and goes inside to the bathroom to change. “God, it’s so weird being back in this house; like we've done this for three years and it's still weird,” she says as she steps into the shallow end of the pool when she gets back.

“Yeah,” Benji says. “That has to be strange.”

“I mean, I guess it’s just like when Jared and Brittany would come over when I lived here.”

“Huh?” he says.

“Jared and Brittany? They lived here before I did. Jared’s in my grade. Brittany’s his younger sister,” Cassie explains.

“Oh, wow, yeah. I don’t know them, I don’t think,” he says.

“Probably not. They’re not in band. Brittany’s a cheerleader. Jared doesn’t actually do much of anything,” she says with a laugh.

It’s only a few minutes later when Benji’s mom comes outside and yells down from the deck that there’s snacks if we want any. We all must, because everyone is suddenly swimming and walking for the sides of the pool. We wrap towels around ourselves and then go up to the deck. I realize I have to pee while I’m picking up a cookie. “Hey, um, could someone show me where the bathroom is then?” I ask.

Benji looks at me and smiles. “Yeah, come on,” he says and he opens the back door of the house. I follow him inside. He doesn’t say anything as we walk through the kitchen and then the living room. I see who I assume is his mom on the couch watching TV. She looks up at us and smiles as we pass. The bathroom is right through a doorway into a narrow hall. “There you are,” he says pointing. “I’m just running upstairs to grab my Bluetooth speaker. Think you can find your own way back, or should I wait for you?” he asks.

“Um,” I say. “I think I’ll be okay. Thanks.”

He chuckles. “No problem.” And then he takes off up the stairs to the right and I walk into the bathroom. The bathroom is small, but there’s a window next to the toilet that looks out onto the deck and pool area, so I sort of watch everyone else for a minute before I use the toilet and wash my hands. I hear what I assume is Benji walking past the door and wait until his footsteps trail away before opening it.

His mom is in the the kitchen when I get there. She looks up from whatever she’s doing and smiles a me. “I don’t think I’ve met you before,” she says.

“No, uh, I’m Victor,” I tell her and she smiles again.

“Freshman?”

“Uh, no, sophomore,” I say. “But my family just moved here from Texas.”

“Wow,” she says. “That’s a long way.” I nod and she smiles. “I hope you’re enjoying yourself today and with band in general.”

“I really am,” I say. “It seems like they have a really good program going here.”

She nods. “Yeah, Ephrata’s whole performing arts program is great. And the marching band is super tight; great way to make friends. I know Benji’s always enjoyed it a lot.” I nod and she smiles again before going back to whatever she was doing. I open the door and walk back outside.

“There you are,” Felix says from where he’s sitting with his feet dangling off the side of the deck. I pick up another cookie and go to sit next to him.

“Yeah, sorry, I was talking to Benji’s mom.”

“Yikes, I’m sorry,” Benji says from where he’s leaning against the railing above us. “She’s so weird.”

I laugh a little and look up at him. “Actually, it was fine. She’s nice.”

He rolls his eyes. “If you say so.”

“Did she make the cookies?” I ask.

He nods. “Yeah.”

“So, she’s nice _and_ makes excellent cookies.”

He laughs and I smile as I look back down. I can feel myself blushing and I’m not even really sure why. Byron is sitting on the stairs and he raises an eyebrow at me when he sees me. “What?” I mouth. He shakes his head.

After we finish our snacks, we end up back in the pool and someone starts a game of keep away and then there’s just a whole chaotic mess happening. Benji’s mom comes back out to the deck and lights the grill a few hours later and then calls us all for dinner a little while after that.

Finally, it’s almost eight and people are starting to leave. “Is your mom coming to get us?” Felix asks.

“She said to call her if we wanted a ride.”

“Do you guys need a ride?” Cassie asks walking over.

“Could you?” Felix asks.

“Yeah, I already told Byron I’d take him. Come on,” she says and once we have all of our things gathered, we follow her to her car. She’s parked on the street. She drives this decrepit old Geo Tracker in a color that can only be described as “Barney purple”. Felix and I climb into the backseat since Byron’s house is closer and we set off.


	8. Part 3A - First Full Rehearsal, Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a joke in my hometown (Ephrata) that 1/3 of the populous is Catholic; another 1/3 is Mennonite; and the last 1/3 is some other denomination of Christian. It was sort of a scary place to live as a queer atheist, but it really is getting a lot better these days.

On Sunday, my mom insists we all actually go to mass as a family and no matter how much Pilar protests, she doesn’t give up. At least the service isn’t until nine. The church is a five-minute drive from our apartment and the parking lot is packed with cars. This church is _a lot_ bigger than the one we went to back in Texas and I realize when I’m looking at the signs that it must also be the school Byron and Teresa used to go to. Our Mother of Perpetual Help; O.M.P.H.

We walk from the car to the main entrance the lobby is crowded with people. “Victor!” I hear someone call, so I turn around and it’s Byron with Teresa next to him. I grab my sister’s arm to pull her with me. “Hey!” he says when we get closer to them. “Didn’t realize you were catholic, too.” We all laugh.

“Uh, yeah,” I say.

“Add ‘em to the list,” Teresa says and then she waves to someone else.

“Huh?”

“Oh, I swear half the band is catholic,” she says. “Not really, but there’s a lot of us.”

The people she was waving at end up being Ellen and Clare from dinner last week. I look at Pilar pointedly and she rolls her eyes.

“Hey,” Clare says, smiling at my sister. Pilar smiles politely.

“There’s Matt and Mike,” Ellen says a second later and she waves them down. They’re both ridiculously huge. Well over six foot and definitely not starving.

“Who are you?” what I assume is the younger one asks, looking at me and Pilar.

“Uh, I’m Victor and this is my sister, Pilar,” I say. He raises an eyebrow. “Sophomore, drumline and she’s a freshman, color guard.”

“Aha, new to the area?” he asks. I nod.

“Well, welcome! I’m Mike, junior, baritone,” he says.

“Matt,” his brother says, “just graduated, mello and horn.”

“Where are you going to school, Matt?” Ellen asks.

“IUP.”

“For art?” she says and he nods. “Cool.”

Theresa with an h joins us, too and she introduces her older brother Pat who apparently plays clarinet and graduated 2 years ago and her younger sister Margie who is in my grade but not in band. Linsey the pit section leader walks over, too, and then a guy I don’t recognize joins our little conglomeration.

“I’m Ben,” he says and holds out his hand.

“Victor,” I say as I shake it. He’s about my height with longer straighten hair.

“I assume you’re in band since you’re with this lot,” he says, nodding.

“I am. I’m in drumline. I nudge Pilar. My sister, Pilar, is in color guard. What do you play?”

“French Horn. I’m only doing Marching Band this year for the Disney Trip and because I think Cindy would have murdered me otherwise,” he says and I look at him. “She’s the mello section leader,” he adds with a laugh.

“Ben!” Linsey says excitedly and he looks at her. “I hear you’re actually doing marching band this year?”

He rolls his eyes. “Only because I want to go to Disney,” he says with another laugh.

Two more people join us and they’re introduced as senior twins, Pat and Catie. Pat plays Tenor sax and Catie’s in guard, but plays bassoon in concert band. Then another senior tenor sax player, Erika and her boyfriend Jake that isn’t in band join us. And finally, a junior alto sax player, Mallory. We all migrate into the sanctuary together and find seats near the back.

“I can’t believe I’m in church and not sitting with Mom and Dad,” Pilar says quietly once we’re sitting and I laugh.

“Seriously,” I agree. “Also, this place is _huge_.”

“Right?” she says and we both laugh.

When the service is over, Pilar and I are standing back in the lobby with our new friends. Our parents walk over and I quickly look up. “Hola, Mami, Papi” I say. “Are you ready to go?”

“Si,” my dad says nodding.

I turn back to my friends and wave. “Bye, guys, see most of you Tuesday night!”

Everyone waves back and says goodbye and then Pilar and I follow our parents out of the church. “So many friends already,” my mom says with a smile as we get to the car.

I shrug a little. “A lot of band kids,” I say. “Some of them were at dinner when we went for Chinese with Felix last week and a couple are in pit and the rest of them, we just met.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re both making friends so easily,” she says as she gets into the passenger seat and closes the door.

The rest of Sunday and all of Monday are pretty boring. I try to practice the show music as much as I can because I don’t want to make a complete fool of myself on Thursday when we start practicing it together and I definitely don’t want to make a fool of myself in front Benji if we have to do a breakout sectional. _God_.

Tuesday night, Felix, Pilar, and I walk to the school together. When we get there, the parking lot already has maybe a dozen cars in it and there are adults standing outside the auditorium entrance. “In the auditorium tonight, guys! Go in and find your section leaders, please.” A lady I don’t recognize tells us when we get close enough and she holds the door behind her open.

We walk inside and Pilar immediately goes to the right-hand section where I see Krista and Mindy standing. I see Chris and Benji at the front of the left-hand section with Val and Linsey a few rows behind them. “Hey,” I say when I get to them.

“Hey, Victor,” Benji says and he smiles at me, so I smile back and I feel my heart flutter.

“You have your binder,” Chris notes. “Did anyone show you how to set it up? I realized after we left Thursday that I hadn’t gone over it with you.”

I nod. “Felix showed me yesterday,” I tell him and hold it up.

“Oh, awesome.”

“I still can’t figure out the shoulder strap thing though,” I admit.

“Do you have a shoelace?” Benji asks and I nod, pulling it out of my pencil bag and holding it up.

“Here, give me that and the binder and I’ll get it for you,” he says and I hand him the stuff. He quickly wraps the shoelace through the rings of the binder and double knots it before handing it back. “And then I suggest the cross-body method,” he says turning slightly so I can see how he has his binder on. I drop it over my head and pull one of my arms through. “Perfect! And that’s a great water jug. Those things or camelbacks are the real saviors especially when we get to band camp,” he says.

“Yeah, this is the one I used last year in Texas. I have a feeling Texas band camp might be a _little_ worse that yours,” I say with a laugh.

He laughs, too. “You know, you’re probably right.”

I smile a little. I like that I can make him laugh. I sit down and look around. The auditorium is starting to fill up. ‘Fill up’ probably isn’t the right phrase, but there’s a lot of people and then it’s almost six and Mr. Fairchild appears on the stage, holding a hand in the air.

“Quiet please!” he says loudly and the chatter that’s been filling the room dwindles to silence. “Thank you!” He smiles around the room. “I think we’re all here now, so I’m going to get started. First of all, I want to make sure you all have your binders and water for tonight’s rehearsal. If you don’t have water, the BPA did bring a pack of water bottles, but please in the future, remember to bring your own. If you don’t have your binder, it’ll be okay tonight, but you _need_ to have it with you next week. If you have any questions on the binders and how to set them up, please talk to your section leader before you leave tonight and they can help you. If you need string for your binder, I have a roll up here and we’ll get it taken care of before we head over to the field.”

He looks around again and then sighs. “Alright, let’s do staff introductions first, because we have a handful of new techs with us this year and a lot of freshman and new faces. I’m Mr. Fairchild, which you probably already knew,” he says. “I’m the high school band director for marching band, concert band, wind ensemble, and jazz ensemble.” He gestures to Mr. Garrett who’s standing next to him.

“I’m Mr. Garrett, the middle school band director. I’m also the assistant director and percussion caption head for marching band and I direct the jazz lab band and both the middle school and high school percussion ensembles.”

“I’m Mr. Hartsock. I teach eleventh and twelfth grade English at the high school and I’m the color guard director for both outdoor and indoor groups.”

“Bob Jordan,” says a round bald man. “I’m your visual caption head and drill designer.”

“Okay, I’m going to have our full-season techs go next if you would folks,” Mr. Fairchild says and then he gestures to a very short girl in front of him. She can’t even be five foot tall.

“Hi, guys! My name is Miranda! I graduated from Ephrata in 2007 and then Millersville in 2011 and I’m the Drum Major and Student Leadership tech for the season. I played clarinet and then I was an EHSMU drum major for my junior and senior year. I was also a drum major at Millersville for three years.”

The woman next to her goes next. She’s taller and thin and definitely older. “I’m Mrs. Smith! I’m an elementary music teacher at Clay. I also teach private lessons for clarinet, saxophone, and double reed instruments. I’ll be your woodwind tech this season.”

“I’m Mrs. Ohlinger!” a red-haired wiry woman says from near the color guard. “I’m a middle school music teacher. I also run the middle school and high school dance companies and do the choreography for the middle school and high school musicals. I’ll be teching with the color guard.”

Rich goes next and then a guy with kind of mess dirty blond hair name Ricky who is apparently the brass tech. And the last full season tech is “Don!” he announces. “I also graduated in 2007 with Miranda. I’m the visual tech.”

“Thank you!” Mr. Fairchild says. Now we also have a bunch of summer techs with us this year, but I’m not going to bore you introducing all of them. You’ll get to know the ones working with your sections throughout the summer. Can I have the woodwind techs wave for me?” Three girls wave, there’s a black girl and then two white girls. “Brass techs!” Mr. Fairchild calls and two guys, one white and one black, and a blonde girl all wave. “Percussion!” Mr. Stokes, Ivan, and Jolyn all wave from the aisle next to us. “And color guard!” Mr. Fairchild says and three girls wave from the other side of the room. “Now, give us just a minute to discuss how we’re going to do tonight’s rehearsal and we’ll be right back with you. This is a great time to ask your section leaders any questions you might have.”

Mr. Fairchild turns to Mr. Garrett and they start talking quietly. I glance at Benji and he smiles at me from where he’s sitting two seats over with an empty one between us. “You look at the show music yet?” he asks.

“Yeah,” I say. “I was trying to practice a bit."

“Cool,” he says. “I was too. I think the show’s going to be really cool. They played the whole thing, music anyway for us at the kick off meeting. I’m pretty excited.”

Mr. Fairchild clears his throat and raises his hand again from the stage and we all look at him. “Okay, vets, you know how this works. Rookies, it’s pretty simple to follow. We’re not taking instruments, so if you happen to have brought yours leave it out in the lobby to pick up when we’re done. Line up in your twos outside and we’ll head over. I believe I was told Chris is going to gock for us since we won’t have the cadence.” I glance over my shoulder to see Chris nodding and giving a thumbs up with one hand while holding the gockblock in the other.


	9. Part 3B - First Full Rehearsal, Part 2

The practice field is across the street and down a hill from the school. There’s a scissor lift on the top of the hill and everyone starts dropping their water bottles next to it in little clusters. I set mine next to Benji’s and follow him down the hill to the field. “We’re going to set up the basics block,” Mr. Fairchild announces. “Drumline together and pit you can stick with them. Guard, stick together because you’re a little different from the rest of us once we get moving. Winds in the middle. I’m going to have Don step it off for you at two step intervals.”

The whole process is a little confusing, but we get there and I end up in the second to last row between Benji and Felix. “I hate this,” Felix complains. “There’s a reason I do pit!”

“Same,” Cassie agrees from his other side.

Benji raises his eyebrows slightly and I bite back a laugh. I actually like marching, so this is kind of my element. Once the block is set up, Mr. Fairchild waves for us to be quiet again and then says, “Okay, Robert and Chelsey are going to be calling the commands for you and clapping while we do this part. Rookies, if you’re not sure, watch the vets please. Obviously, without instruments we want those clean line default hand positions tonight. We’ll bring instruments with us next time and go over your actual holds. Tonight, I just want to make sure you’re all comfortable with roll-stepping, slides, and back-stepping as well as marking time and the basic commands.”

We run through a lot of stuff and Benji has to show me a couple things, because they do stuff a little differently than we did in Graham, but overall, it’s pretty straightforward. At the end of the night, Mr. Fairchild has us bring it in to a huddle and makes a few quick announcements including that next week’s full rehearsal will require instruments. When he tells us to line up, Benji and I grab our water bottles and fall into line behind Chris and Andrew. Chris gocks as we cross the street again and then we’re dismissed for the night when we reach the auditorium doors.

Most parents are still in the band room for the BPA meeting, so there’s a lot of us just standing around and waiting in the hallways that lead to the band room from the auditorium lobby. Mr. Hartsock has the color guard meet for a few minutes, so I’m just waiting for my sister and Felix who is talking to some other pit people, mostly moaning about how they do pit for a reason and hate that they’re forced to still do basics. Suddenly, I hear someone behind me say. “Hey, new kid!”

I turn around to find an iPhone being wielded by a blonde in a bright red shirt that definitely seems a little much for band rehearsal. “Whoa, what are you doing?” I ask her.

“Taking a picture for the Facebook group post about first rehearsal!” She says like that should be obvious. “Name?”

“Victor Salazar,” I say awkwardly.

“Well give me some deets,” she says. “Where’re you from? Why’d you move? Are you cuffed?”

“Cuffed?” I practically squeak.

“Locked down.”

“I, I’m sorry, I really don’t…”

“In a relationship; did you move here from 1984?”

“Easy, Lake,” says a shorter black girl walking up beside the blonde. She also seems a little overdressed for band rehearsal if I’m being fair. “Hey, maybe let the new kid breathe before shoving a camera in his face.” She turns and smiles at me. “Hi, I’m Mia.”

“Victor.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I’m sorry about her,” she says glancing back to the blonde.

“No, it’s cool. No one’s really been that excited to take my picture since my mom used me as a model for her piano lesson flyer, so…”

“Wow, you were a piano lesson _model_ ,” Mia says.

“Oh, yeah, yeah,” I say, laughing a little. “Check this out.” I turn to the side and hold my hands up like I’m playing a piano.

“Wait. Why is the piano the same height as your face?” Mia asks.

I look back at my hands and try to think on my feet, because honestly, I have no idea. “Well, you see, it’s a standing piano, so. It’s good for my back.” We both laugh.

Then the blonde is talking again. “Okay, well, hi, still waiting for my answer. Is there a girl back home, or?”

_Here’s my chance. All I have to do is tell these open-minded northern kids that I’m still figuring out that department, but instead I say,_ “Nope, no girl back in Texas.”

“Hmm,” the blonde says, looking at Mia. “So, _do_ mess with Texas. Got it.” Then she grabs Mia’s hand and pulls her away. “Come on.”

“I’ll see ya around,” Mia says, waving at me as she follows her friend.

In the same second that they leave, Felix walks over. He stares after them with a wide mouth for a minute. “Dude,” he says. “You just made Mia Brooks blush!”

“Okay, so?”

“You don’t understand. She is the hottest girl in our class. She basically never dates and you just made her blush.” He laughs. “You’re blushing, too.”

“No, I’m not.”

He throws his arm around my shoulders and starts leading me toward the auditorium doors. “At first, I couldn’t tell, because of your beautiful cinnamon complexion, but you totally are,” he says and then he gasps a little. “You’re falling in love. Being your best friend’s going to be a wild ride, isn’t it?” He’s laughing a little and I don’t say anything, because honestly, _what_? He shakes me a little and then drops his arm as we get to the lobby. Pilar’s already there waiting for us.

“Have you seen Mom yet?” I ask her. She shakes her head. “Felix, your mom doesn’t go to BPA meetings?”

He shakes his head, too. “Nah, she’s… not that type of parent.” I get the sense there’s something more to that story, but I don’t pry.

Outside, I see Mia and Lake getting into a really nice BMW SUV with a woman that seems to be a carbon-copy but older version of Lake driving. Probably her mom. I look at Felix again. “So, who are they anyway?”

“Who?” he says and then follows my gaze and laughs. “Ah, Mia Brooks and Lake Meriwether,” he says. “They both play flute. Lake’s mom is Georgina Meriwether from the news and Mia’s dad is the president of Franklin and Marshall College.” I raise an eyebrow at him and he sighs. “They’re rich,” he says. “F and M is like the D2 equivalent of an Ivy League. It’s in Lancaster and I’m sure there’s a president’s house on campus, but her dad had this fancy mansion built here instead. Ephrata isn’t fancy, but there’s this one part of town, up on the mountain, that has some _really_ nice houses for people like them.”

“Mountain?” I say. There is definitely not a mountain in Ephrata.

He chuckles. “Right. Uh, the big hill in town. It’s the Ephrata Mountain. Our mascot is the Mountaineer and everything. We take our hills _very_ seriously around here.”

I can’t help but laugh. “That’s ridiculous.” My mom shows up before he has a chance to respond and she looks beyond frazzled. “Are you okay?” I ask her as we walk out of the glass doors and toward the car.

“Yep,” she says.

“Mom…”

“It was just a little overwhelming. There’s a lot of things going on,” she says.

“More involved than Graham?”

“Much,” she says and then we’re getting in the car.

“So, what’s so involved?” I ask as I buckle my seatbelt.

She sighs. “Well, there’s two big fundraisers coming up and band camp and there’s apparently a picnic the day before band camp…”

“Ice Breaker Picnic!” Felix says excitedly.

“That’s the one,” my mom confirms. “And a pool party on the last night,” she continues.

“The pool party is actually the best thing,” Felix says. “We always have it at this private members-only pool in Akron, so we have the entire place to ourselves for the night and we’re all high on sugar and caffeine and it’s just super awesome after two weeks of band camp to be able to breathe.”

“Two weeks,” Pilar repeats.

“Uh, yeah?” Felix says.

“ _Two_ weeks,” she says again.

Felix is staring at her. “Yep. I mean there’s a weekend in the middle, but the DCI Eastern Classic is that Saturday and most people go because the BPA does it as a fundraiser. They overcharge for the tickets and take school busses. It’s kind of awesome if you can afford to go.”

“DCI as in drum corps?” I say.

“What else would DCI mean?” he asks with a laugh and I laugh, too.

“I don’t know, but that’s really cool. How much does it cost?”

“I think tickets are actually like $25 because they get the group price, but the trip is $50 including transportation,” he says.

“Oh,” I say. I doubt I’ll be able to go. I would love to, but my family doesn’t exactly have $50 to spare.

“I need to start saving more,” Felix says. “I want to at least go to Collegiate this year. Need to start scoping out good college programs, you know?”

“Do you have a job?”

“Not really,” he says. “I mow lawns for people in the development around the apartment complex. Make decent money.”

“Need some help?” I ask. “I could use the money…”

“That would be awesome. We could get twice as many done if we team up. I only have the one mower, but my mom works at Agway and could probably use her discount to buy a second one cheap. The investment would totally be worth it, because I bet we could turn a decent profit. I shovel sidewalks and driveways in winter, too, but that’s more hit or miss if we don’t get a lot of snow.”

“Snow,” Pilar groans. “I forgot about that.”

“You’ll survive, mija,” my mom says as she parks in front of our apartment building.

“I’ll see you,” I say to Felix as we start to walk toward the building and he waves as he jogs across the grass toward his own.


	10. Part 3C - Exploring Lancaster with Felix, Part 1

On Wednesday, I wake up to a text from Felix.

_Wanna go on an adventure today?_

_What kind of adventure?_

_Public bus adventure._

_Ephrata has public busses?_

_We have one. It goes to and from Lancaster. It doesn’t run super often, but I wanna go into the city and do things today, so if you wanna come…_

_How much does it cost? What things?_

_Do you still have your old school ID? Students are $1 each way, but you have to show them your school ID. And I want to get ice cream and coffee and do cool things_

_Can we not get coffee and ice cream here?_

_Coffee, yes. Good coffee, no. Ice cream, yes. Good ice cream, no. Plus, the city is cool. I can show you around and stuff. We can even go to the mall if you want._

_I only have like $20, so probably not to the mall._

_Totally fine! But that's plenty for coffee and ice cream!_

_Fine. When are we leaving?_

_9:25 or 10:30, up to you. I’m ready now, but I can wait if you’re not._

I check the time. It’s almost 8:45. I tell him, if coffee’s first we can go at 9:25 and he sends me a thumbs up emoji, so I get up and put clothes on before walking out into the living room. My mom is on the sofa watching television. “Buenas dias, mijo,” she says looking up with a smile.

“Hey, um, would it be okay if I go out with Felix today?”

“Where are you going?”

I swallow. “Uh, he wants to take the bus into the city to get coffee and ice cream or something like that.”

She chuckles. “Do you have enough money?” I nod. “And when will you be home?”

“I actually don’t know. Let me ask,” I say and I pull out my phone again.

_My mom wants to know when we’ll be home._

_No later than just after 6. The bus only really runs during the work day._

I send him a thumbs up emoji and look back to my mom. “No later than 6, apparently.”

“Okay, then,” she says. “That’s fine. Have fun.”

“Thanks,” I say and then I head outside to meet up with Felix.

He’s standing toward the next building over from mine in the grass. “Hey, bestie!” he says and I roll my eyes as I walk over to join him. He leads me the other way out of the apartment complex around the curve in the road and then left on the main road in front of the church with a sign I can read. I ask him about the church and he says it’s Russian. We keep walking down toward a shopping center which turns out to have a froyo place along with a Domino’s and there’s a McDonald’s on the other end of the parking lot. I have a feeling I’m going to end up spending a lot of time there. He stops when we get to the bigger main road and turns to look to the left. “The bus should be here any minute. It comes from the hospital.”

“Oh, that’s where my dad works,” I say.

“Cool. What does he do?”

“Electrical stuff? I really don’t actually know,” I say with a laugh.

“Still cool,” he says. “Also, get your ID and your dollar out. You pay when you get on going in.” I nod and do what he says and then I notice him point again. “There it is!” I look up and see a public transit bus headed toward us. Felix waves to the driver when it gets a little closer and she nods her head once as she starts to pull over.

“Morning,” the driver says when she opens the door for us. I follow Felix on board. “Have your school IDs?” Felix holds his up. “Thank you, a dollar then.” Felix drops four quarters into a slot and steps away. I show her my ID. “Where you from, kid?”

“Texas,” I say awkwardly. “Just moved here.”

She nods. “Alright, a dollar.”

I feed my dollar into the bill acceptor and then follow Felix toward the back of the bus. He slides against the window in a two-person seat and I sit down next to him. “Fair warning,” he says as the bus pulls back onto the road, “it’s a bit of a long ride.”

I sigh. “I wish you would have told me that sooner. I really need coffee.”

He chuckles and pats my shoulder. “We’ll go right to Square One. It’s around the corner from the bus station. Don’t worry.”

A few seconds later we’re pass Dairy Queen at the intersection by the school and my head is turning. “Whoa. Is this whole town a big circle?”

Felix laughs. “Nah, just our complex. Either way you go out you sort of end up the same place just a little further down,” he says.

“Do you have Rita’s in Texas?” he asks, pointing out the window as we drive by.

I shake my head. “What’s that?”

“Italian Ice. It’s pretty good. Not as good as the stuff at the fair, but,” he says with a shrug. “I mean Philly style water ice is obviously superior.”

“I have no idea what any of that means.”

He stares at me like I have two heads. "You’ve never had Italian ice? Or water ice?” I shake my head. “Wow. Okay, yeah. We can get some of that, too. There’s a Rita’s downtown.”

The bus goes past the public library which looks pretty nice and pretty large, so I make a mental note to check it out at some point. Maybe Pilar will walk down with me next week. “What the hell is a Wawa?”

He chuckles. “Okay, I know that one’s regional, so I’ll give you a break. Gas station, obviously,” he says. “But also, a convenience store. Their hoagies are alright. I prefer Sheetz myself, but there’s some people… mostly ones from Philly that swear Wawa is life.”

“Hoagies?”

“ _Jesus,_ ” he says. “Sandwiches? Subs? I don’t know what the hell you weirdos call them.” He points out a place called Pancake Farm and says we’ll probably have breakfast there before the first competition and then he tries to point out a diner behind the Wendy’s called Gus’s where he says we’ll have breakfast before most of the other competitions. When I question him, he explains that the pit, drumline, and tech crew always go to breakfast at god-awful-o’clock in the morning before competitions as some sort of weird bonding tradition.

There’s a Dunkin’ Donuts and a K-Mart on the right and then about halfway up a hill there’s a Goodwill on the left. And as we keep driving, Felix explains that we’re now in Akron and it’s seems to be another small town, but I think it must be smaller than Ephrata. We pass a bowling alley and then a Sonic and then he points out a Sheetz and explains that it’s a competitor to Wawa, but the food is “definitely better by a long shot” though apparently not everyone agrees.

After that there’s a lot of houses and then some open farmland. “If you turn there,” he says pointing to a road that goes diagonally to the right, “you end up at the good movie theatre. There’s one in Ephrata, too, but it’s kind of shit and never plays anything good. Penn Cinema is where it’s at for movies. They even have an IMAX.”

“Cool,” I say. Then we pass a place called Oregon Dairy which he explains is a grocery store and restaurant. It’s followed by more farmland. Before we get to more houses.

“We’re in Lancaster now,” he says. “Or well, Manheim Township. Rich kid territory." Not much later we pass another Sheetz and then I can finally see what appears to be a city up ahead.

“Are we almost there?” I ask.

“Nearly,” he says.

We go over a bridge that seems to be crossing train tracks and enter the city. A few blocks later we pass a hospital and then a few blocks after that, he points out the coffee shop we’re going to, but says we have to wait until the bus loops around to the station for whatever reason. Right after the coffee shop is a really cool looking public library and I almost want to ask if we can go. _I love libraries_. There’s a sign saying City Hall is the building on the right and then there’s a really fancy old church on the corner where we turn. We go a single block before making another right at a Starbucks and a block and half back the other way we pull into the bus station.

When we get off the bus, Felix leads me out the back exit of the station and back to the coffee shop. We order our coffees and find a table in the crowded café. “You’re about to have your mind blown,” he says once we sit down. “Their coffee is _amazing_.”

He’s not wrong. The coffee is actually really great. We stay there for awhile enjoying it before he asks what I want to do next. I obviously have no idea what our options are which he realizes a second later. “We could go over to Musser Park, it’s a block east. It’s not the greatest park ever but there’s benches and chess tables and stuff. I didn’t bring my chess pieces though. I should have thought of that.”

“It’s okay,” I insist. “I don’t know how to play chess, anyway.”

“Really?” he asks and I nod. “I’ll have to teach you some time.”

“Sure,” I agree because that isn’t the nerdiest possible thing in the universe. Nope. Not at all. _What is my life?_

“Rita’s? Ice Cream? Burritos? A walking tour?”

I laugh a little. “I’m not actually hungry yet,” I say. “Maybe that walking tour, I guess?”

He chuckles. “Tour Guide Felix at your service!” he announces and we get up from our table. We hand the barista our now empty mugs and walk toward the door. He takes us to the left once we’re outside. “So, we’re currently on Duke Street,” he says. “Um, the city branch of the public library is here. It’s pretty cool. They have an awesome movie collection. Better than Ephrata’s.” But he doesn’t stop.

“Why is there a piano?” I ask.

“Keys for the city,” he says as if that should be obvious. I raise a eyebrow and tilt my hands up. “Oh, it’s a thing M.F.E. does.”

“M.F.E.?”

“Music for Everyone. It’s a non-profit. They have grants and stuff for music education. They also provide school districts with instruments and a lot of really cool stuff. Including putting these pianos all around the city for the summer.”

“Oh, that’s really cool.”

“Yeah,” he agrees. “And that’s Saint James,” he says pointing to the church I’d noticed earlier. “Episcopal Church. Super old or something, I guess. I’ve been told it’s really cool inside, but I’ve never been.” He shrugs a little and then gestures diagonally across the street. “that’s the courthouse. We’ll go this way,” he says and points to the right. I follow him across the street twice. We walk in front of the courthouse or is it beside? Maybe behind? I don’t know which direction it’s actually facing. But then there’s another church that has a sign stating it was founded in 1736 and _Jesus Christ_.

“Okay, nothing is this old in Texas,” I say, looking at the dates.

Felix chuckles. “Did you know Lancaster was the national capital for a day?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, when they had to leave Philly because the British invaded. They stopped here so it was the capitol for a full twenty-four hours before they went over to York. The city does an event to commemorate ‘Capital Day’ every year. I mean James Buchanan, storied most terrible president until the current one lived here, too. His house is out on Marietta Pike.” When we get to the corner, Felix points to the right. “That’s Binns Park; it’s not actually a park, to be fair. It’s mostly paved. There’s like fountains and benches and tables and stuff, but let’s go this way,” he says and we turn right.

We go in front of a Rite Aid and there’s a bunch more businesses including an escape room and a Jimmy John’s. “I’ve never actually done and escape room,” I say as we walk past.

“Me either,” he says. “Seems like a waste of money.” He shrugs. We cross a side street and he points out a restaurant called ‘Isaac’s’ but says there’s apparently one in Ephrata at that shopping center near our apartment complex. At the end of the block we end up in the city square. There’s a huge ornate old building across the street which he tells me is a Marriott hotel and a weird monument that sticks into the center of traffic and doesn’t quite make sense.

“Let’s cross” he says when a light changes and we do to the right. “That’s Central Market,” he says pointing to a brick building in the middle of the block we’re now on. “It’s the oldest continually operational indoor farmer’s market in the country or something.”

“Wow.”

“It’s not open today though.”

“Continually operational…”

He laughs. “They’re open three days a week. Tuesday, Friday, Saturday,” he explains and that makes more sense, I guess. We walk to the other end of the block and he points across the street. “The Fulton is where L.S.O. concerts are and they have musicals and stuff. Like a step up from community theatre, but obviously not Broadway quality.”

“L.S.O.?” I ask.

“Lancaster Symphony Orchestra,” he says. “And that’s the Rita’s I was talking about. Do you want to go?”

“I’m good,” I say and he shakes his head.

“Whatever you say, man. We start walking up the street and we get to a café. “Prince Street, the road we’re currently on and the café!” he says with a chuckle.

“Wait, is that Mia and Lake?” I ask, looking through the window and it definitely is because they wave when they see us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, here are some fun things:
> 
> The coffee shop they were at is real (as is the cafe for that matter, but the coffee shop matters more). This is their website and their coffee is actually amazing and SHIPS! - https://www.squareonecoffee.com/
> 
> MFE is also real and super cool. - https://www.facebook.com/MFELancaster/


	11. Part 3D - Exploring Lancaster, Part 2

Felix basically pushes me toward the door of the café. “Calm down,” I tell him.

“Then move!” he says as he opens the door and waves me in.

I walk over to the table where Lake and Mia are sitting and smile at them. Mia smiles back and Lake is looking at her intently. “Hey! What are you doing down here this fine Wednesday?” Mia asks.

I chuckle and gesture to Felix. “Felix insisted there wasn’t good coffee or good ice cream in Ephrata and made me come with him.”

“He has a point,” Mia says and she glances at him briefly. “Do you guys want to sit with us?”

“Um,” I say.

“Yes,” Felix says and he flops onto the bench next to Lake.

“Are you not going to order the coffee you came all the way down here for first?” Mia says laughing as I sit in a chair next to her.

“We already had coffee,” I say awkwardly. She raises her eyebrows.

“You know as well as I do that Square One is far superior. The only reason to come here is the food and because there’s more space to linger,” Felix says, crossing his arms.

Mia shrugs. “Fair point.”

“Did you guys take the bus?” Mia asks and we nod. “My dad dropped us off on his way to work,” she explains. “So, what are you guys up to other than coffee and ice cream?” she glances at Felix. “I assume you’re taking him up to Penny’s?”

Felix nods. “Where else would we go?”

Mia shrugs and looks back to me. I’m staring at the monstrosity on her plate and she chuckles. “You should get one. They’re amazing.”

“What is it?” I ask.

“Chocolate chip cookies with a Nutella cream filling and then dipped in dark chocolate. Literal perfection.”

“That sounds glorious,” I agree.

“It is,” she says.

I glance over my shoulder toward the register. “Maybe I’ll go grab something to eat at least,” I say. “Felix, you want anything?” He shakes his head.

I walk up to the counter and look and the case of pastries and deserts and _holy crap_ , it all looks amazing, but the damn cookie thing is _five dollars_ and I’m still trying to have ice cream here, so I settle for a regular Chocolate chip cookie without the flare and walk back to the table. “Are they out of the Nutella ones already?” Mia asks.

“Uh, no,” I say awkwardly. “I just didn’t want to spend five dollars on one.”

She shrugs. “Totally worth it.”

“Maybe for you,” I say. “I don’t have that kind of money to waste on cookies.”

“Oh,” she says quietly.

The conversation picks back up after a few awkwardly quiet minutes and we stay there for a while. The cookie is tasty, but probably not $1.75 tasty if I’m being honest. Afterwards, Mia and Lake decide they’re come get ice cream with us so we all start walking together. Felix points across the street after we cross an alley and continues his tour. “That building used to be PAM, but when they shut down it was sold to Millersville and now it’s their like downtown branch where they have off-campus night classes and stuff,” he says.

“What’s PAM?”

They all chuckle. “Pennsylvania Academy of Music,” Lake says. “Private lessons and ensembles and stuff. It was really cool. Mr. Garrett used to teach there.”

“Doesn’t he teach at Millersville now?” Mia says.

“Yes,” Felix says, “and Fairchild teaches at LVC.”

“Wait, our directors also teach other places?” I say. “I’m confused.”

They laugh again. “Garrett does drum lessons and percussion ensemble at Millersville,” Felix says. “Their old percussion guy retired and Garrett’s kids are older and his private studio was drying up, so.” He shrugs. “Fairchild teaches sax lessons at L.V.C.”

“Where slash what is L.V.C.?” I ask.

“Lebanon Valley College,” he explains. “It’s in Annville. I forget which church it’s affiliated with, but it’s one of them. They have a pretty good music program.”

The ice cream shop is two and half blocks up Prince Street on the opposite side of the road and we get there just as they open. I’m a little overwhelmed when we walk inside by all of the choices, so I let the other three order first and try to follow their lead. The ice cream is actually amazing and we sit at a table in the back of the shop to eat it. At some point during all this, Lake snaps a picture of me and Mia sitting together eating ice cream and I have no idea why.

Mia _is_ actually really nice, so there’s that at least. I guess if I’m going to be pigeon-holed into pretending I like a girl, she’s a good option. We spend the next few hours wandering the city with Mia and Lake before they decide they want to go to the mall and Felix and I decide we should head back to the bus station.

While we’re sitting on a bench there, waiting for the bus to come, Felix shows me Lake’s post on Instagram. It's the picture of me and Mia at the ice cream shop and there’s _a lot_ of comments. “I sat with some girl at an ice cream shop,” I say. “Why is this news?”

“Mia is not just some girl. Everyone is obsessed with her. Even the bathroom graffiti about her is respectful,” Felix says.

I roll my eyes as the bus pulls up. We wait for the passengers to exit and then get on board. “You pay when you get off going back,” he explains as we walk toward the back of the bus again. He lets me take the window seat this time. The bus ride back is an almost identical route, but they can’t let us off where we got on, so we have to walk a little further this time.

When I walk into the apartment, it’s just after 4:30. “You’re home!” my mom says happily from the piano and I smile and nod at her. “How was it?”

“Good,” I say. “We went to a coffee shop and then we ran into a couple girls from band and hung out with them while we got ice cream and walked around for a while.” I shrug.

“Girls?” she asks and I roll my eyes.

“Yeah, uh, Mia and Lake. They play flute.”

“And do we _like_ Mia or Lake?”

“I mean, Mia’s nice,” I say with a shrug. Before she can ask anything else, I walk back the hallway and into my room, closing the door. I pull out my band binder and drumsticks and start practicing the show music again.

When my dad gets home from work, we have dinner. My mom feels the need to tell him I was hanging out with girls in the city earlier and I internally groan. Pilar raises her eyebrows at me and I shake my head. “We ran into them at a café after we got coffee,” I try to say. “We stopped to say hi and then they invited themselves to join us. We got ice cream and walked around for a few hours. It was really nothing.”

“That’s not what Instagram seems to think,” Pilar says.

“Not you, too,” I groan.

My parents look at her expectantly and she pulls her phone out to show them the Lake’s post. Of course, they think it’s cute and ask me if I like her or if I’m dating her and I again tell them that she’s nice, but it’s really nothing; we were just eating ice cream. I don’t think any of them believe it, but they at least let it go after a few minutes

After dinner, I practice some more and then I get a shower, which I probably stay in longer than strictly necessary, before I head to bed. By that time, I’m pretty sure more than half the kids in band have friend requested me on Facebook and followed me on Instagram and I still don’t understand why me eating ice cream with Mia is such a huge deal. I accept the people I recognize and leave the rest in friendship limbo. Once again, as has happened every single night since the first day I saw him in that stupid hallway, I can’t stop thinking about Benji when I close my eyes and sleep is difficult to find because of it.

During the day on Thursday, I practice some more and then at 5:30, Felix, Pilar and I walk to the school for practice. I’ve barely sat down in the band room when two of the bass players that I eventually remember are named Teddy and Kieran are breathing down my neck asking about Mia.

“I’m telling you, nothing happened at the ice cream shop, I swear,” I say for the hundredth time.

“He’s lyin’, man,” Teddy says, tapping my shoulder. “Look at that smile.”

That’s when Andrew walks up. “He said nothing happened. Idiots.”

“Alright everyone, time to get started!” Mr. Garrett announces a second later and I’ve never been more relieved in my life. I look up at him and notice the section leaders standing in the doorway. Benji catches my eye and smiles, so I smile back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look we're finally on episode 2 of plot. I may or may not be writing a lot more than initially intended.
> 
> Also, the next chapter will be the last of part 3.
> 
> Also, the ice cream shop was a real thing. They closed the shop recently (Thanks, pandemic), but they still have a truck and the ice cream is amazing.
> 
> Also those nutella cookie sandwiches are actually the bomb and totally worth the $5.


	12. Part 3E - Second Percussion/Guard Rehearsal

After a few announcements, we retrieve our drums from the closet and meet up outside. Mr. Garrett runs us through some warm-ups and then we play through the cadence a couple times. “I’m going to have you go into breakouts and start working the opener, please,” Mr. Garrett announces. “We’re down some techs tonight, so Benji and Victor you’re on your own and Chris and Andrew you are, too. Mr. Stokes will work with the bassline. I’m going to head over to the pit because they have the opening of the entire show and I want to make sure we get it half decently clean before Tuesday. Mr. Fairchild’s plan is to run the entire show for music on Tuesday before we work on basics with instruments, so please be practicing on your own, too. I’m going to give you until 8:15 and then I want you to all come over to the pit overhang and we’re going to try to run some of the opener together for the last forty-five minutes. Focus on the drum breaks especially, I want to show Mr. Fairchild and the wind section that we’ve actually been working on this, alright?” We all nod in agreement and then Mr. Garrett starts walking away.

“Uh, want to go back over by those trees?” Benji says and uses his sticks to point.

I shrug. “Sure.”

We bend down and pick up our water jugs and Benji grabs the music stand as we head toward the trees. We find a fairly flat piece of ground to set up on in the shade and he sort of smiles at me for a second. “Um, have you practiced this at all?”

“A bit, yeah,” I say. I’m definitely not going to admit to him just how much I’ve been practicing because it’s sort of ridiculous and I don’t want to sound like I’m showing off my commitment or whatever. But I also really don’t want to embarrass myself in front of him, so I’ve spent basically every waking moment since last Thursday practicing.

“Cool,” he says and he pulls out his phone. “I have a metronome app on here,” he says when he notices me looking. “Do you want to start a little down tempo, or?”

“That’s fine, yeah,” I say. I’ve definitely been trying to work it up to the actual show tempo, but he doesn’t need to know that yet.

“The first part’s only at ninety, so do you want to just run that quick at tempo and then we can jump in at nine with the double time part?” he asks.

“Sure,” I say and I watch him set the metronome to 90 clicks and press start.

“The first measure is just like a timpani roll or something, I think,” he says with a laugh. “Um, so let’s just go from two to nine and then we can try the double time part at maybe one-twenty instead of one-eighty first?”

“Sounds good,” I agree and that’s what we do.

He counts us in and we play the seven measures at tempo. It’s not difficult, but we sort of get out of sync for a second so he stops us and we try again a few times until we get it together. “Alright, let me reset this thing,” he says, picking up his phone again. He increases the tempo and we try the next section. We eventually get through the first drum break and then he decides we definitely need to stop for a water break which we both laugh about as we take off our harnesses and sit in the grass.

“So, the social internet tells me you had a city rendezvous with a certain flute player yesterday,” he says and I groan. He chuckles. “Let me guess, Lake is making it seem like more happened than did?”

“Exactly,” I say and thank _God_ someone finally gets it.

“She does that. I’m not shocked,” he says. “Her mom always makes news seem more exciting than it is, too. I think it must be genetic.” I laugh, probably more than I should. He chuckles under his breath and smirks at me. “Ready to get going again?” he asks and I nod, so we get back to our feet and hoist our drums back on.

We manage to get the whole first movement at tempo. It’s definitely not clean and there’s parts where we fall out of sync, but we can get from beginning to end, so I guess it’s something and I guess Benji agrees, because he decides we need another water break before we head over to the pit and everyone else.

We’re sitting on the grass again and then he goes to lean backwards and accidentally puts his hand down half on top of mine for a split second and I really hope he doesn’t notice, because I definitely freeze and freak out internally. I swear it feels like electricity is coursing through my entire body for the fraction of an instant that he’s touching me and I don’t know what to do with this information. I try to shift a little away from him, because I do _not_ need that to happen again regardless of how much I want it to. And I have a feeling there might be a new facet to my recurring dreams about this boy tonight.

If he does notice, he doesn’t say anything and I’m forever grateful. “You’re going to be a sophomore, right?” he asks and I nod. “Did you get to pick your classes yet?”

“Uh, yeah. The guidance counselor sent us the course guide and we talked to him over the phone after we enrolled.”

“So?” he prompts. When I don’t answer he chuckles. “What are you taking?”

“Oh, um,” I say and I think. Do I really want to tell this way too attractive boy how much of a nerd I am? I sigh a little. “Uh, the honors English class…”

“Tandem,” he provides.

“Yeah, I guess,” I say. “Um, I think I have to take American History or something.”

“Yep. Everyone does,” he confirms.

“And I took Biology last year at my old school, so I think they said I can take Chemistry this year, even though you guys don’t take it until junior year usually?”

“Oh sweet,” he says. “Are you taking principles or foundations?”

“Uh, the higher one?”

“Foundations. Me, too. Maybe we’ll end up in the same class!”

_Oh shit._ But at least I guess that means he’s a bit of a nerd, too? “Um, Algebra 2.” He nods. “Something about P.E. and driver’s ed.?”

He chuckles. “Yep. You’ll have P.E. one semester and safety ed. with consumer skills the other. When’s your birthday?”

“August thirty-first,” I say.

“Are you turning fifteen or sixteen?”

“Sixteen…”

“So, you’ll have safety ed. first semester and gym second. What else?”

“Uh, my old school only offered Spanish, but apparently they have a rule where I’m not allowed to take Spanish here because I can already speak it…”

“So, you’re taking German,” he says.

“Yep,” I say with a sigh. “I’m kind of freaked out about that, to be honest.”

“Don’t worry. The German teachers are actually really great. And if you need help, I’m happy to provide my tutoring skills,” he says. “I’ll be in German three this year and I’m in German N.H.S.”

_So, he’s a nerd-nerd. That’s good to know._ “And band. I think that’s everything…”

“That’s seven, so yep.”

“It’s weird that you don’t have to do concert band to do marching band and vice versa here. It was all the same class at Graham.”

“Some schools do that, but it’s never been Ephrata’s thing,” he says and he’s about to say something else when he’s interrupted.

“Yo, snares, let’s go!” I look up and see Andrew motioning to us from near the school.

“Shit,” Benji says under his breath and then he yells, “We’re coming!” and practically jumps to his feet. I do the same and we both grab our drums, water jugs, and binders. He also grabs the music stand and we hurry off after the tenors and basses. They’re walking toward the band truck.

When we get to the other end of the school, I can see what everyone keeps talking about with the overhang. “This is the gym entrance and teacher parking lot,” Benji says quietly as we hurry to join everyone else. I’m glad someone remembers I’m new here and have no idea what or where anything is.

The drumline arcs up behind the pit and Mr. Garrett stands in front and clears his throat to get our attention. “Alright guys, let’s just take this from the top, shall we?”

He turns on a metronome that might be the most annoying noise in the entire universe. “Doctor Beat,” Benji says quietly when he sees my face. “The other settings are worse. Just wait.”

“Alright, Felix, let’s kick off the show with that beautiful timpani roll and then see what we can do.” And that’s exactly what happens. Felix plays a huge, swelling timpani roll and all of the mallet players join in on suspended cymbals and then we’re playing the opener. He doesn’t even try to go down tempo, we’re just straight in at a hundred and eighty clicks, so it’s rough. It’s an honest-to-God mess if I’m being fair but we get through it. “That was a start,” Mr. Garrett says when he cuts us off. “Let’s chunk it down and try to get it a little cleaned up with what time we have left tonight.”

We play bits and pieces of the opener over and over again until some of them sound halfway decent and then he has us run the whole thing through again before he dismisses us for the night. We actually go into the school through the gym entrance because the color guard is coming out of the gym at the same time and someone gets the door for us. I follow Benji and we pass a bunch of rooms that I don’t know what they even are before we’re in front of the cafeteria and eventually the drum closet. We stack our drums in and Benji closes the door.

“Alright, try to work on memorizing the opener, guys and maybe play through the ballad and closer, too. Fairchild usually wants to run the whole show at the first music rehearsal and it’s going to be a mess, but we want to at least try to get through it, please.” Chris says as people start walking away. “We may end up with some sectional time if he decides to work with the winds on anything before we go out for basics.”

Everyone kind of mumbles their understanding and then I look up and see some color guard people walking toward us including my sister. “Hey,” I say and wave to her.

“Hey,” she says.

“Ready to go?”

She nods. “Where’s Felix?”

“Loading the truck, I assume,” I say and then we walk up around to the auditorium doors. When we get outside, I see the pit closing up the truck and then Felix is jogging toward us. We immediately start the walk home once he reaches us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that concludes Part 3/25.


	13. Part 4A - Full Band Summer Rehearsal #2

I spend most of Friday and Saturday practicing the show music. I think I actually have the first half of the opener memorized already. On Sunday morning, we go to mass again and it’s weird because Pilar doesn’t even complain. We sit with our friends again and I don’t think I’ve ever seen my mom that pleased. Sure, we both had friends back in Texas, but this is different. I think the fact that we have friends who are also Catholic makes her have some sort of extra hope for our eternal souls or something. Honestly, I’m happy, too, because Pilar is finally talking to people. It seems like she and Clare are actually going to be friends

When we get home, I go back to practicing and Pilar shuts herself in her room. My phone dings with a Facebook notification a few hours later and it’s Felix inviting me to join a private group entitled “Group Awesome”. I have no idea what that’s about so I text him.

_What’s with the fb group?_

_It’s just our friend group page. I managed to secure you an invite! Your sister, too._

_Like the people we went for Chinese with?_

_Yep. Just accept it._

_Once schedules go out for the fall, we’ll coordinate to see who has classes together and lunch periods and stuff._

_And we’ll figure out random dinner plans and stuff. We’re not always as last minute as Chinese was. [laugh-cry emoji]_

_If you say so._

I accept the request and scroll through some posts before I go back to practicing. A few minutes later, Pilar walks into my room without knocking and scares me into jumping. “Can you knock please? _Jesus_.” I say looking up at her.

“Right, sorry,” she says. “Um, what’s this Facebook group Felix invited me to?”

I chuckle. “It’s the friend group that went to Chinese the other week."

“Oh, okay. Just wanted to make sure it wasn’t him being a weirdo. Because he definitely is,” she says and then she walks back out of the room.

I roll my eyes. “At least close the door,” I call after her. She groans and walks back to close it and I go back to practicing.

By the time we’re going outside to meet up with Felix before practice on Tuesday, I have the entire opener memorized and most of the other two movements down, too. “You’re so lucky,” Felix says to Pilar as we’re walking.

“Why?” she asks.

“Because guard isn’t going to be stuck in the trainwreck that is the first music run through tonight,” he laughs.

“Do you really think it’ll be that bad?” I ask.

“Probably. It usually is,” he says. “No one actually practices until they realize how shit we sound. I wonder how long he’s going to give us to have it memorized.”

I bite my lip. “I might already have the opener memorized,” I admit.

Felix stares at me in stunned silence. “Are you serious right now?”

I nod and shrug. “I haven’t been doing much other than practicing.”

“Nerd, but honestly, good for you. I’m still just trying to remember what I need to tune my drums to,” he says with a laugh.

“Hey,” Pilar says, “what kind of stuff do you guys play in concert band? That’s more my speed.”

Felix shrugs. “Grade 4 mostly and he usually throws a Grade 5 on the spring concert. You play oboe, right?” Pilar nods. “You’ll probably get pulled for orchestra. I don’t think we’ve ever had more than one oboe player in a year. But Christina plays, too. And we have two bassoons because Catie Black and now Ellen’s little sister. Fairchild and Nigh are going to be elated.”

“Orchestra?” she asks.

“Yeah, like for the wind section? The best people from concert band get pulled into full orchestra, too. Plus, you guys can do Wind Ensemble after marching season. It’s totally worth it if only because we get to miss a day of school to go to Hersheypark in May.”

“Wind Ensemble?” I ask.

“Yeah, it’s like a smaller concert band type thing? We play slightly harder music and practice after school on Thursdays. And there’s indoor guard for you and pep band for us and also percussion ensemble.”

“Okay, but I am not trying to spend my entire life in the band room,” I say with a laugh.

“Why the hell not?” he asks as we walk into the school. I think he’s actually serious. “I mean, a few people from the crew also do quiz bowl, so you could spend a couple afternoons in Mrs. Harris’s room, too if you want.”

“Quiz bowl?” I ask.

“Only the greatest after school activity,” Cassie says, suddenly joining us. “Trying to recruit the new kids for that, too?” she asks Felix and he nods. “It might be the nerdiest of all activities, but the cookies are totally worth it.”

“What I wouldn’t give for some crack cookies right now,” Felix says longingly as we walk toward the band room.

“Crack cookies?” I ask. “And you still didn’t explain what quiz bowl is…”

“Quiz bowl is like jeopardy on steroids,” Cassie says. “We’re actually pretty good. I’ll probably be one of the captains this year if we’re being fair.”

“Mrs. Harris loves you, so yeah, probably,” Felix agrees. “You, Schirmer, and Kurth, probably. Maybe Levi?”

“I doubt Shirmer would want it. Probably Levi,” Cassie says.

“True, he has enough on his plate with science fair.”

“ _God_ , I wonder what he’s working up this year. I mean I'm sure we'll find out on the cheese wagon to the first match.” She laughs and Felix does, too.

I have literally no idea what these two are talking about, and I’m relieved when Benji waves to me so I can go sit next to him instead of listening to more of their incessant chatter about things I don’t understand. “You look overwhelmed,” he comments when I sit down.

“I just have no idea what Cassie and Felix are on about and they’d rather confuse me than actually explain anything,” I say, shrugging.

He laughs. “Be glad Emilee wasn’t with them. I’m pretty sure she and Cassie have their own language and it often doesn’t involve speaking.”

“Eh?”

“Um, Fairchild’s actually yelled at them in concert band before. Cassie plays bass clarinet and Emilee’s the first chair sax, so they’re on opposite sides of the room, but they’ll just look at each other a certain way and burst out laughing. I’m pretty sure they’ve been friends forever or something.”

“Oh,” I say. “Do _you_ know what the hell crack cookies are?”

He laughs. “I do,” he says. “Not sure how those came up, but they are delicious.”

“So, what are they?”

“They’re a type of cookie the school cafeteria makes sometimes. Chocolate cookie, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, I think there’s dark chocolate chips, too. It’s just chocolate on chocolate on chocolate and they’re super addictive. If you have seventh period lunch, there’s always a chance they’ll be sold out before you even get there.”

“Interesting,” I say.

“Good evening, folks,” Mr. Fairchild says from the front of the room. “Tonight, we’re going to run the music for the entire show first. We’ll probably do it a little down tempo, but I want to get through the whole thing. We’re not going to work on cleaning at all. I just want you to at least play all of it once. After that we’ll do basics. So, bring your instruments and a music stand. You do _not_ all need your own stand. Two or three on the same part can share. I don’t want to take all of them over and please try to take the old ones if you can, I don’t want to break our good ones; the district spent a lot of money on those.” He looks at his watch. “So, everyone, grab your stuff and line up in your twos outside. We’ll step off at 6:05 and I believe the drumline worked on the cadence for us this time, yes?”

I start to reach for a stand, but Benji shakes his head. “Nope, the pit will bring some for us. They have a ride and we need to play the cadence,” he says.

“Oh.” I follow him from the room and up to the drum closet. It only takes a few minutes to get our drums on and get outside. The drumline goes to the back of the band.

“Ready?” the drum major asks as he walks by and Benji nods. I watch as he makes his way to the front of the lines and joins the other drum major. He turns around and claps a few times before yelling “BAND TEN HUT!” Everyone snaps to attention. He claps again. “MARK TIME MARK!” And Benji starts tapping on the downbeats. “FORWARD HUT!” the drum major calls and then we step off toward the field. Benji does a roll off a few steps later and then we start in on the cadence.

By the time we arrive on the field the pit is arriving, too. They have all of their equipment and a couple dozen music stands loaded onto two trailers which are being pulled by a riding lawn mower Linsey is driving. Behind the trailers are the larger marimba and the nicer set of vibes with Val between them. I see Rich jump off one of the trailers and walk over to Mr. Fairchild. “Did you need the drum major stand tonight?” he asks. “I can go grab it if you do.”

Mr. Fairchild shakes his head. “Nah, we’ll be fine. We’re just going to arc up and play.” Rich nods and jumps back to helping the pit unload their trailers and set up.

Once the drum major calls for us to halt, Benji and I drop our water bottles next to each other on the hill and head down to the field. Mr. Fairchild is holding a megaphone. He announces, “Winds, arc up on the field behind the pit please. Pit you can start your warm-ups once you’re set up. Drumline go down that way.” He gestures to his right. “And do your warm ups. We’ll meet back to do the full music run in about 15 minutes please.”

Benji grabs a music stand off the pit trailer, and I follow him and the rest the drumline to to the far end of the field. At the opposite end of the field, I see the color guard blocking up and it looks like someone is going to start leading stretches. Mr. Garrett joins us a few seconds later and leads us through some basic warm-up exercises. After warm-ups, we join the winds and pit for the show music run. It’s a trainwreck, exactly as Felix predicted, but at least the drumline sounds okay?

“Keep your instruments, but put the music stands on the sidelines please,” Mr. Fairchild announces once we finish the show. “Set up the basics block. Color Guard if you would like to join us, please!”

“Do we have to do basics or can we practice?” Linsey asks from the pit.

“Practice tonight,” Mr. Fairchild decides and he doesn’t use the megaphone to respond. “When we work the parade tune, you’ll come out with us, because I know some of you are actually going to play instruments for that, so I’ll try to give you some heads up, okay?” Linsey nods and I see her start talking to Val.

Once we set up the block, we’re told to put our instruments down and then the drum major, who I finally remember is named Robert, leads us through some stretches. “Don’t get used to these,” Chris says from next to me. I look at him and he laughs. “My mom’s a yoga teacher. We’ll usually do drumline yoga instead.” _Weird._

After stretches, we pick our instruments back up and learn the proper holds, which for drumline is kind of a hilarious thing to spend time on. There’s only so many ways you can hold a set of drumsticks. We take a water break and then practice step offs a dozen times before they actually let us take a step at all and the whole thing is just a little silly.

“Okay, we have about forty minutes left tonight,” Mr. Fairchild finally says. “Take a water break and then we’re going to head back over to the school. The Chicken Barbecue is on Saturday, so we need to sign up for shifts. Just a reminder, everyone is expected to do one, two-hour shift. We’re doing it at Charlie’s like always, so if you’re going to need a ride, text your parents or get paired up with someone that drives, please.”

“Drumline, we’re doing the early shift!” Chris says as we’re gathering our water bottles from the hill. “I’m just going to write all of you down. If you need a ride let me know and I can do a couple trips if necessary, plus Savannah and Mitch can drive, too.”

“What time is ‘early shift’ and where is this place?” I ask Benji.

He laughs. “Right, uh, early shift is going to be eight to ten, I think. That’s what it usually is and I have no idea who decided that was Drumline’s thing, but,” he says and holds his hands up. “And Charlie’s is a gas station in Lincoln.”

“Lincoln?”

“Oh, um, it’s like west of town a little, on Main Street. Where do you live again?”

“Cloister Gardens,” I say.

“Right, um, you could probably walk. I’d think it’s a little over a mile maybe? Felix lives over there, too, doesn't he? You could ask him.”

I nod. “He does. I’ll see, I guess.”

We get into line for the march back to the school and wait until Robert starts clapping. “BAND TEN HUT! MARK TIME MARK! FORWARD HUT!” Benji taps a few measures and then does the roll off for the cadence.

“The sign-up sheet is in the band room for Saturday,” Mr. Fairchild says as we come to a stop outside the school.

The pit takes a little longer to join us because they’re loading the truck, but I catch Felix when he walks in. “So, Chris is making the line do the first shift,” I say.

“Always! I’ll do it, too,” he says. “Think your mom can give us a ride?”

“Maybe. I can ask. Benji said he thought it would be walkable.”

“It is, but we’re going to be standing for two hours and it gets _hot_ next to the barbecue pit,” he says. I don’t bother mentioning that I have no idea how any of this even works because what else is new at this point. “I’ll be right back,” Felix says and then he walks over to the sign-up sheets. “Someone already put the entire guard down for the second shift, so I guess that’s when your sister’s going,” he says when he returns.

“Oh,” I say and honestly, I hadn’t even thought about that.

“If Cassie didn’t live the opposite direction, I’d just ask her to pick us up. She’s doing the early shift, too,” he says as we’re walking toward the lobby. When we get there, Pilar is already waiting so we all head out and start the walk home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note, my BFF Emilee and I did actually get yelled at on numerous occasions for exactly what Benji is describing to Victor. Also crack cookies are real and delicious.


	14. Part 4B - Last Percussion Only Rehearsal

On Wednesday I get a text from Felix saying he’s about to go mow some lawns and asking if I want to come, so I go. He charges $20 to mow anything that takes less than an hour and $10 for each additional half hour, so we actually make decent money. He found a second mower, used, cheap on Facebook Marketplace and his mom took him to pick it up, so we do the houses two at a time and get through a dozen before dinner. Felix comes over for dinner which is pizza my dad picked up on his way home from work. After dinner, I spend the rest of the night practicing.

On Thursday, Felix and I get through another 8 lawns before dinner and then we have to head to the school for the last percussion-only practice. When we reach the school, Mr. Garrett is waiting outside. He tells Felix to just head to the truck. The pit is going to have a sectional all night, apparently. I head inside and find Chris and Benji at the drum closet, pulling everything out.

“Hey, guys!” I say as I walk up. “Need help?”

“Oh, hey, Victor,” Benji says turning around and smiling at me. “We’re good, but here,” he says and he hands me my drum and harness.

“Thanks,” I say.

“We’re actually going to go over to the field tonight,” Chris says as I start taking the drum out of its case. “We want to work on some movement stuff because obviously we’re a little different than the winds.”

“Okay,” I say, so where are we meeting?”

“Uh, you can go back up to the lobby and just wait outside. We’ll be up once everyone’s here,” Chris explains and Benji glances at me over his shoulder again and I swear he winks, but I try to ignore it.

When I get back outside, Mr. Garrett asks if I mind telling everyone else what we’re doing when they arrive so he can go get some things from the band room before we head over to the field and of course, I agree. He thanks me profusely and takes off inside. I look over toward the the truck and see Linsey, Val, and Felix unloading. We were really early tonight for whatever reason, so I’m waiting a little while until anyone else shows up.

Cassie shows up with Byron in tow and stops her car in front of me to ask if they’re just heading to truck and when I nod, she waves and goes to park at that end of the lot. Savannah pulls up next and she’s driving the two freshman that play the auxiliary parts in pit. When the get out of the car I tell Shane and Ryan (I still haven’t figured out which is which, honestly) to head down to the truck while Savannah heads inside to get her drum. Everyone else shows up pretty quickly after that including Andrew, Teddy, and Kieran being drop off by who I think is Andrew’s mom is a Land Rover, so apparently, they’re rich, too, _great_.

Once we have everyone back outside including Mr. Garrett, Mr. Stokes, and Ivan, we line up and play the cadence as we march over to the practice field. Once we get there, Mr. Garrett complements the cadence and asks Chris to lead some stretches before we work on some movement. After the stretches, Ivan goes through proper crabbing technique before we do a couple boxes to make sure everyone understands. “You guys all look awesome,” he says when we’re done. “I’m impressed.”

“Let’s work on cleaning up the opener a little, I guess,” Mr. Garrett announces after agreeing with Ivan about our marching technique. “Do any of you have it memorized yet?”

“No,” almost everyone says. I notice Benji and Chris don’t say anything and I offer a quiet ‘yes.’

“Well, Mr. Fairchild wants the opener memorized by the eleventh, so get working on it if you haven’t. The ballad and closer will need to be memorized before camp, so you have a couple extra weeks there,” Mr. Garrett says. “Can you all see if we don’t have music stands?”

“Well, I have it memorized,” Benji says.

“Me, too,” I say quietly and he smiles at me.

“At least one subsection is prepared. Thank you, snares.”

“I’m almost memorized,” Chris says.

“I’m gonna need the music,” Andrew says and I watch Mr. Garrett roll his eyes.

“Basses you can put your binders on your drums, and you should be fine. If you don’t understand how to do it, Mr. Stokes can show you. Ivan, would you mind holding Andrew’s music for him tonight?”

Ivan shrugs and walks over to Andrew who hands him his binder once he has it flipped open to the right page. I see Mr. Stokes showing Sue how to prop her binder and then we start practicing. It’s starting to get dark, when Mr. Garrett checks his phone and announces we’re going to head over to the pit to run it a couple times and then we can do some breakouts to clean a little more. We march across the street and around the other end of the school to the pit’s overhang outside the gym and set up in an arc behind them. They have an extra music stand at least so Ivan doesn’t have to hold Andrew’s music anymore. We get through the entire opener twice and Mr. Garrett seems satisfied. “Okay, line go ahead to breakouts. Ivan, could you stay with the pit? I think our auxiliary players could use your help.” Ivan nods and walks over next to Shane and Ryan’s set up.

Benji nudges me with his shoulder and I immediately snap my head toward him. My face must give away how shocked I am with the physical contact because he mumbles, “Sorry” before asking where I want to go. I shrug and tell him I don’t care, so he leads me around the corner and toward the stadium. We end up under a tree and get to work.

It’s fine. It’s _totally_ fine. I’m not still thinking about Benji’s shoulder touching mine five minutes ago and I’m definitely not messing up a part of the opener that I know I can nail because of it. That’s definitely _not_ what’s happening at all. “Do you wanna take a breather or something? We were nailing this part earlier,” Benji says after my third failed attempt.

“Uh, yeah, I don’t know. Maybe I just need a drink.”

He chuckles uncomfortably and I’m not really sure why, but we take our drums off and sit down in the grass. I pick up my water jug and try to take a drink. I end up half-choking because I notice Benji looking at me as I’m trying to swallow and he raises an eyebrow. “Forget how to swallow water?” he asks.

“Something like that,” I say and I pull up the bottom of my t-shirt to dry my chin.

I swear I hear Benji swallow and he’s definitely looking at me and I swear his eyes drop to my abs for a second and I think I forget how to breathe. I try to compose myself and I drop my shirt and try to straighten it out. “Are you alright?” he asks a second later when I still haven’t said anything. “You seem a little off.”

“Um, yeah, I’m fine,” I say, because obviously I can’t tell _him_ why I _am_ a little off. “Let’s try that part again?”

“Sure,” he says and we both get back to our feet and pick up our drums. I actually manage to play the part properly this time and Benji chuckles. “Maybe you did just need some water,” he says when we finish and I nod a little.

“Guess so,” I say.

“Do you wanna talk about stick flares for the drum breaks? I know we’re not actually working on visual yet, but I figure we’re more like to get them down if we start practicing with them now.”

“Oh, uh, yeah, I guess. Do we just figure that out on our own?”

He shrugs. “Chris and I talked about it a little. But it sounds like Andrew needs more work on music before the tenors are going to be able to add them.”

I nod a little. “Okay, sure.” We work through the drum breaks in the opener adding so cool stick moves and by the time Mr. Garrett yells ‘Snares!’ and waves to us across the parking lot we’re both laughing, so I guess I can actually not be a total mess around Benji and that’s definitely going to be a really good thing.

Mr. Garrett has all of us huddle up around the back of the truck so the pit can listen in on what he’s say. “Saturday is the Chicken Barbecue he says. Are you all signed up?” I see everyone nodding. “And do you all have rides?” Everyone nods again. My mom has agreed to drive me, Felix, and Pilar down at 8, but that means Pilar is going to have to sit around for a couple hours before her shift and then she said she’ll pick us all up at 12 (after Pilar’s shift) which means Felix and I are also going to be sitting around for a couple hours, but at least we don’t have to walk. “Okay, well I’ll see you all there. I think line is coming at eight, right?”

“We are,” Chris confirms.

Mr. Garrett smiles. “Alright, well you’re dismissed. Go ahead and put your things away. Remember there is no Thursday rehearsal next week due to the holiday, but there will be a full rehearsal on Tuesday night.”

I follow Benji and the rest of the line toward the school and once all of the drum are put away, I wander toward the gym where I can hear the guard still practicing. I’m about halfway there when they start streaming into the hallway, so I just step to the side and wait for my sister to get to me. “Hey,” she says when she’s close enough.

“How was practice?” I ask.

She shrugs. “Alright. He said we’re going to start learning some of the actual show routine on Tuesday which is cool.”

I nod. “Benji and I started working on some visuals for the drum breaks in the opener. We both have it memorized, so.”

“Nice,” she says and then we’re walking toward the auditorium exit to find Felix. We’re about to turn by the district office when another girl catches up to us and grabs Pilar’s arm. She freezes. “Yeah?”

“Pilar, right?” she nods. “Um, do you have a ride Saturday? You were the only one we weren’t sure about…”

“Oh,” she says. “Um, yeah. My mom’s gonna take us, but Victor,” she says, nudging me, “is doing the really early shift, so I’ll have to sit there and wait, but it’s fine.”

“Where do you live?”

“Um, Cloister Gardens?”

“Anna has another seat in her car and she’s coming from in town if you wanted her to just pick you up instead, so you don’t have to sit around.”

“Oh,” Pilar says and looks at me. I shrug. “Um, yeah, that’d be great.”

“Perfect. Let me text her quick and I’ll give you her number so you can coordinate,” the girl says as she pulls out her phone and starts typing and then Pilar pulls her phone out, too and saves the number.

“I’m sorry. What’s you’re name again?” she asks the girl.

“Lucy,” she says.

“Right. Um, thanks.”

“No problem,” Lucy says and then we’re in the lobby and Benji’s still standing there.

“Jesus Christ, can we go?” he says, looking at Lucy.

“You didn’t have to wait for me.”

“You say that now, but you know you’d be pissed if I didn’t,” Benji says and they both laugh.

“Yeah, alright, let’s go,” she says. “See you guys Saturday!” She waves to me and Pilar as she and Benji start walking toward the door.

“I forgot Victor’s sister was in guard,” Benji says quietly. I don’t think he realizes we’re still right behind them.

“Yeah. She seems nice. Most of our freshmen do, honestly. How are yours?”

“Our what?”

“Freshmen! I mean, I’d ask about the new kid, too, but you can’t seem to shut up about him, so that seems unnecessary.” _What did she just say?_

“Oh, uh, there’s only one on line. Sue. She’s good, I guess? I haven’t really interacted with her yet. There’s a couple in pit that all seem fine.” That’s when I stop being able to hear them as they walk around the corner of the building just as Felix joins us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What was that, Lucy? Benji can't shut up about Victor? Hmm.
> 
> Next chapter will be the Chicken Barbecue Fundraiser and that will be the end of Part 4.


	15. Part 4C - Chicken Barbecue

When my alarm goes off at seven on Saturday morning, I groan a little, but I get up and get dressed. Everyone else was talking about wearing band shirts from previous years or something, but I don’t think my shirt from Graham is really the right life choice, so I just pull out a random shirt and put on a pair of basketball shorts. It’s supposed to hit ninety today and Felix said something about it being hotter near the barbecue pit, so it seems reasonable.

Felix comes over and my mom makes breakfast for us. Since, Pilar’s getting a ride with the girl from color guard, she’s not even out of bed by the time we leave. Felix tells my mom how to get to the place and it only takes about five minutes. Some other people are already there and seem to just be standing around.

There’s a large tent with a huge barbecue pit structure under it and I see Mr. Garrett’s pick-up parked right next to it. Felix and I get out and I tell my mom I’ll see her later and then she leaves and we walk over to Mr. Garrett.

“Good morning, gentlemen!” he says.

“What d’you want us to do?” Felix asks.

“We have about an hour to get everything set up. Start with the tables and then we’ll go over how we’ll be handing everything out, okay?” We both nod and go to pick up one of the big folding tables that are leaning against the side of the truck.

By 9:45, there’s thirty-two of us and I don’t understand why we needed so many. Mr. Garrett calls us over so we can go over how we’re going to hand everything out to the people who show up. “We have 500 pre-sale tickets told and 900 total portions,” he says. “So, you need to make sure you’re keeping track of how many cash sales there are if you’re taking money because we can’t sell more than 400 without tickets.” We all nod our understanding. “We’ll do it in fifteen-minute shifts so no one gets too run-down, alright?”

“Who wants the chicken costume first?” Chris asks pulling a mound of bright yellow feathers out of the truck bed.

My eyes go wide but Felix jumps up. “ME!”

“How did I guess that was going to be the answer?” Chris says and tosses the costume to Felix.

“I think we have 8 signs from the BPA. They’re on my front seat so pick some people to hold those out by the road with Felix. Then we’ll do pairs on all the other stations. Freshmen, and Victor, partner up with someone that’s done this before, please.”

“Partners?” Benji asks me and I shrug a little, so we walk over to Mr. Garrett to get our assignment for the first fifteen minutes.

Benji and I end up at the first hand out station. We’re next to Byron and Teresa at the second. A boy and girl who I’m told both play trombone are at the third. And Savannah and Sue are at the last one.

There’re four packing stations behind us. They box up the meals and hand them to us to stack on the tables and then we pass them to the cars as they pull up. There’re two cash stations that take the tickets or cash payments as people pull in, too. The packing station behind our table is being staffed by Mallory from church and her friend Kristin that also plays sax. Cassie and her cousin Mike are working the one behind Byron and Teresa.

The first cars start to roll in right after nine, and we get to work. Fifteen minutes after that and too many chickens to county, Mr. Garrett instructs on where to rotate to. Benji and I end up at one cash station and Teresa and Byron are at the other. Linsey takes the chicken the costume, which I was not anticipating and we all settle into our new roles.

When we switch for the 9:30-9:45 block, Sue ends up in the chicken costume and we’re out by the road with the signs. I’m introduce to the two trombone players from earlier. They’re named Tyler and Emily. Tyler is a senior and Felix calls him by his last name which I recognize as one of the names that was mentioned by him and Cassie in reference to Quiz Bowl the other day. Emily is a freshman. The only other person I haven’t met is a senior clarinet player named Gwen who seems to be friends with Teresa.

For the last round, Benji and I end up at the packing station handing boxes to Felix and the pit freshman, Ryan. A boy I don’t recognize takes the chicken costume. I ask Benji who he is and apparently his name is Trevor and he plays sax. He’s in my grade.

Just before ten, the entire color guard and some other people show up for the next shift. Felix and I go to sit in the grass next to the parking lot. My mom’s coming to pick all three of us up after Pilar’s shift. No one even comes over to ask us if we need a ride or anything which, I guess, I shouldn’t be surprised. We both lay back in the grass and I close my eyes; maybe I can take a nap out here or something.

“Hey, guys, you have to wait around, too?”

I look up to find Benji standing over us. “Oh, uh, yeah, my mom’s coming to get all three of us when Pilar’s done,” I say. “Why are you still here?”

He shrugs. “My parents had plans today so Lucy’s mom’s my ride home,” he says. “Mind if I sit?”

I sit up and pat the ground next to me. “Go right ahead,” I say.

He sinks the the ground and smiles at me for a second. “Um, did you think about any of those visuals we were talking about on Thursday night?”

“Yeah, yeah,” I say. “I was trying to add some of them when I was practicing last night. I haven’t really had a lot of time yet though. Felix and I have been mowing lawns to earn some money.”

“Oh, sweet, yeah. I mean, we clearly have to wait until Chris and Andrew are ready to add them too before we say anything for sure, but we definitely had a few good ideas.” He chuckles and I can’t help but smile at him.

Then Felix elbows me in the ribs and I jump as I turn to look at him. “What?”

He nods toward the people standing at the road with signs. “Mia’s watching you.”

I follow his gaze and sure enough, Mia smiles at me, so I smile and wave to her before she turns to Lake. “Okay, so?”

“You should like, go talk to her or something,” he says. “I mean, she clearly likes you…”

“She’s holding signs, Felix…”

“I mean, you like her, right? Why wouldn’t you?” I don’t know how to answer that, so I just stare at him and I’m all too aware that Benji’s sitting on my other side. “Come on, I’ll go with you,” he says and he starts to get up.

“Felix, sit down,” I say.

“Oh, you, uh, want to go alone?”

“I’m not going,” I say.

“Why not?”

“Because she’s holding signs and it’s almost quarter after anyway,” I say holding up my phone screen to him.

“Not my fault you wasted the perfect opportunity,” he says and he flops backwards onto the grass again. I roll my eyes at him and then I turn back to Benji.

“Sorry about that,” I say. “You were saying?”

He shrugs and glances toward Mia and Lake. “Looks like Lake’s not the only one exaggerating things,” he says quietly and it takes everything in me to not groan out loud.

“Yeah. I really don’t get it.”

“You _do_ like her though, right?”

“I mean,” I say and then I glance at Mia for half a second before watching Benji watch her instead. “She seems nice enough. I don’t know. I’ve never really dated or anything, so.”

“Really?” he asks. “You… that surprises me.”

“What? Why?”

He shrugs. “Um, I mean. Okay, I don’t mean anything by this, but you… you look like the kind of guy that would have girls flocking to him is all.” He looks extremely concerned about say that and I have no idea why.

I laugh. “Uh, not really,” I say. “Graham was also a really small town. Everyone knew everyone and I guess it was kind of a known fact that I never dated, so…” I shrug.

“Ephrata’s like that, too. Everyone’s parents grew up together and most people’s grandparents before that,” he says. “Everyone knows everyone else’s business here. It’s kind of hard to keep anything to yourself.”

“Oh,” I say because I don’t know what else to say.

“I think it’s even worse for people that go to church, which is like ninety-five percent of people here. Each church has it’s own posse of sorts and they gossip about the other churches and it’s just…”

I stare at him for a minute. “Do you go to church?”

He chuckles. “No, uh. I mean at this point, you’re probably aware that I’m gay. There aren’t a lot of churches in Ephrata that would be cool with that. And besides, we were never religious. Even before I came out. My mom used to go to church for the big holidays and she’d take me along when I was a kid, but she’s hasn’t made me go since middle school because she knew I didn’t like it though she didn’t have any clue why.”

“Oh,” I say.

“Do you?”

“Uh, my family is Catholic. We’ve always gone to mass every Sunday.”

“Good, ol’ OMPH,” he says with a chuckle. “At least I assume that’s where you’re going?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

“You said your _family_ is Catholic. Do you not consider yourself Catholic, too?”

And that’s a loaded question. “I don’t really know. I guess I don’t agree with the church on very many social issues and I find the whole Jesus thing a little weird if I’m being fair, but I could never tell my mom that. It… it means too much to her.”

“That sucks,” he says.

“It does,” I agree and I somehow getting the feeling that he understands what I’m trying to say without me even having to say it and it just makes me smile. “It’s kind of weird. A lot of band kids go to the Catholic church and I was really shocked when I met Cassie’s cousins there.”

“Oh, yeah,” Felix says. “That’s a whole thing.” I’d almost forgot he was behind me again.

“What d’you mean?” I ask him.

“Their mom makes them go, but like, it’s weird, because their mom doesn’t care that Matt’s gay or anything, but she still makes them go to church every week. Cassie thinks it’s stupid, but I guess they’ve just gotten used to it.”

“Hmm,” I say quietly.

“You see a lot of that around here,” Benji says. “So many kids just don’t even come out until after they graduate because they don’t know if their parents are going to… well.”

I sigh. “That really sucks,” I say and he nods. “But your parents were cool?”

“Oh, uh, yeah,” he says and shrugs. “Like I said, we’ve never really been religious.”

“Do people at school ever give you problems?”

He shakes his head. “Not really. Our generation is all pretty chill. I mean there’s a couple Mennonite kids that refuse to talk to me or whatever, but they don’t actually say anything.”

“Probably because they know Ms. Albright would murder them if they did,” Felix adds.

“True, that,” Benji says and then he laughs.

“Who’s she?”

“Assistant Principal,” Benji says. “She’s very big on the anti-bullying thing. There’s a zero-tolerance policy for hate speech and harassment and she will be the first to call you out if you even _think_ about going against it. I’ve seen her hand some big ass football players their asses when they think it’s funny to pick on freshmen.”

“Oh.”

We stay there in the grass and talk until I look up and see my mom’s car pull in. “Uh, that’s my mom,” I say as I glance back at Benji.

“Oh, sweet. I’m sure Lucy’s mom’ll be here soon. See you guys on Tuesday!”

“See ya,” Felix says and he’s already walking toward the car.

“Um, yeah, see ya, Tuesday,” I say and I pause for a second to smile at him and he smiles back and waves as I walk after Felix. Pilar joins us in the car as soon as her replacement arrives and we head home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the end of Part 4. Part 5 will begin in the next chapter.


	16. Part 5A - Full Rehearsal (July 2)

On Tuesday, it’s thunderstorm at dinner time and it’s not supposed to stop until after six which is not ideal. Luckily my dad gets home from work at 5:15.

“Hey, Dad,” I say as he walks in the door.

“Hola, mijo!”

“Um, could you drive us to practice tonight since it’s raining?”

“Oh,” he says, “yeah, sure. Just give me a minute to eat something first, okay?”

“Awesome. ¡Gracias!”

“¡De nada!” he says and then he walks into the kitchen.

I text Felix to let him know we have a ride and then go to my room to get ready before coming back to the kitchen and filling my water jug in the sink. “Hurry up, I need to fill mine, too,” Pilar says when she appears behind me a minute later.

“I can’t exactly hurry the water flow, hermana.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she says and she leans against the other counter between the fridge and stove to wait.

Just after 5:30, we head outside to find Felix trying to stay under the tiny overhang on the front of our building. “You know, if you would have just waited for me to tell you we were leaving, you wouldn’t be half soaked right now,” I tell him.

He stares at me like I’m crazy. “Did you not read the handbook? Have you not heard them say it?”

“What?”

“To be early is to be on time. To be on time is to be too late. To be late is unacceptable!” he says dramatically. “It’s like Fairchild and Garrett’s mantra or something.”

“Right, I should probably remember that,” I say and he laughs as we all run for my the car. The doors are already unlocked when we arrive and Pilar somehow makes it to the front door before me, so I’m stuck in the back with Felix as my dad takes us the short drive to the school.

“Look who it is,” Felix says as we pull in and I glance toward the overhang where there’s various other band students standing and talking.

“Huh?”

He points. “Your future girlfriend, waiting for you.”

I roll my eyes.

“What’s this now?” my dad asks, turning around in his seat suddenly interested.

“This girl, Mia, she likes Victor,” Felix says and I give him a death glare. Pilar cackles.

“Oh, oh,” my dad says and I sigh. “Alright, who is this girl? Is she cute?” He looks toward the overhang and I’m seriously about to kill Felix.

“Dad, don’t be weird.”

“Oh, she’s gorgeous; kind of like a young my mom,” Felix says.

My dad and I both stare at him. “Alright, Macho,” he says. “Well, you go to practice and show this Mia girl a good time, okay?”

“Dad, it’s literally band rehearsal.”

I get out of the car before he has time to be any more embarrassing. As we’re walking toward the school, Benji and Lucy get out of a car with a driver I don’t recognize, but I assume is Lucy’s mom and join us. Lucy immediately starts talking to Pilar and it sounds like the guard already knows their plans for the evening because they’re walking inside and heading toward the gym before I can even follow two sentences.

“Hey,” Benji says as he walks up next to me.

“Hey,” I say and I can’t help but turn and smile at him. That’s when I notice Mia and Lake are there, too and Mia smiles at me, too, so I smile at her and Benji chuckles as he walks in front of us toward the drum closet.

Teddy and Kieran walk in a minute later and fist bump me as they walk past with casual, or maybe a little too hype honestly greetings. Andrew walks in behind them and Lake is immediately talking to him. Something about a boyfriend name Bruno that’s in college and I watch Felix’s face sink.

“Hey, Salazar,” Andrew says, ignoring Lake entirely. “Why don’t you come on back, the rest of the crew’s over here.” He holds out a hand to bump my fist and I follow him toward the drum closet. Felix makes to follow us, but Teddy holds out an arm to block him.

“Sorry, it’s a line thing. Pit’s outside,” he says and I give Felix an apologetic look and he just shrugs and turns around to attempt to talk to Lake.

“You’re not actually friends with the pit loser, are you?” Teddy asks.

“Uh,” I say. “Yeah, no, we’re just neighbors.”

They all nod and then as we’re walking past the district office, Kieran asks if I’ve seen Mia yet and I shrug and say we waved as I got there. “Why?” I ask. Andrew turns around.

“Look man, I know that you like her. You just; you can’t go so hard.”

“Oh,” I say and then we reach the drum closet, so we’re pulling out our drums and harnesses and then Chris pulls out the metal stands for our drums, too.

“We’re doing an indoor music rehearsal for the first part of tonight,” he says when we’re all kind of staring at him.

“Sweet!” Mitch says as he picks up his stand and drum. “Auditorium, or?”

“Band room,” Benji says, “so the pit doesn’t have to bring equipment in in the rain.”

“Oh,” I say and then I wonder what the hell Teddy was telling Felix they were outside for.

Mia and Lake walk past on their way to the band room a minute later and Lake laughs at something Andrew says, that isn’t even funny and he stares at her. Mia raises her eyebrows a little and smiles at me so I smile back as I set my drum into the harness and grab my stand. Felix walks up as we’re about to head to the band room and looks at Teddy. “What the fuck, man?”

“Language, Mr. Weston,” Rich says as he walks past.

“Sorry,” Felix says quickly.

Teddy shrugs and rolls his eyes, but keeps walking next to Kieran and Andrew. “I had no idea,” I tell Felix as we both start walking toward the band room.

“I figured. I hate them,” he says. “All three of them are major assholes. Like, I’m glad they do line instead of pit because I’ve had to spend every waking band moment with the three of them since fourth grade and I’ve had enough.”

“Yikes,” I say. “I mean, they seem nice enough to me, but I don’t really know them.”

“Yeah, just wait,” he says. “They do Wind Ensemble, too. But I’m pretty sure they’re only in it for the Hersheypark trip and day off school. I mean, that’s half of the Wind Ensemble to be fair though. It’s also the only reason seniors take physics. You only _have_ to take three years of science, but if you take physics you get out of school to go to Hersheypark for a day in May.”

“Right, well, I’m going to _have_ to take physics unfortunately.”

“Huh?”

“My old school did biology in ninth grade, so I’m taking chemistry this year. Which means I’m going to _have_ to take physics in eleventh.”

“Ew,” he says. “You didn’t have to physical science?”

“I think we did that in middle school? I honestly don’t know.”

“Weird,” he says and I shrug.

Mr. Fairchild is waiting in the band room and directs the drumline to set up in the back corner opposite the percussion equipment and asks the pit to see if they have everything that they need in here to make due for tonight. I immediately go to stand next to Benji, but I watch as Felix goes to the timpani in the opposite corner and starts tuning them. “Do you do concert band?” I ask Benji.

He nods. “Yep. But I do choir, too, so I’m only there like half the time.”

“You sing?” He nods. “That’s cool. I can’t really sing to save my life.”

“Anyone can sing,” he says.

“Not me.”

He chuckles. “I doubt that’s true.”

“Doubt all you want; I can’t sing.”

He laughs again, but then Mr. Fairchild is clearing his throat. “Stand up please. This is marching band, folks!” There’s a collective groan as the wind section gets to their feet. “Drumline can you go up on the stage to do your warm-ups please so I can do some stuff with the winds. Come back in about 10 minutes,” he says. Chris gives a thumbs up and motions for all of us to follow him out of the room.

Outside the band room there’s a door immediately to the left that’s been closed every time I’ve look, but Chris opens it and there’s a set of steps to the left just inside that go up into the wings of the stage. “Wait, if there’s stairs how do you get everything up here for concerts?” I ask.

Benji points across the stage. “The door on the other end is a ramp. We have to take the stuff out the band room door, up the outdoor ramp and into the hall way. Did you notice that random door opposite the stairs down into the music department?”

“Not really,” I admit.

“Well, it’s there. We go through that way and then up the ramp onto the stage. It’s a pain the ass.”

“Language, Mr. Campbell,” Mr. Garrett says as he walks by.

“Sorry,” Benji mutters as the lights go on over the stage.

“Thank you, Joel!” Chris calls toward the opposite end of the stage.

“No problem. I’ll get them back off after practice,” Joel’s voice responds and then I hear a door open and slam shut in the shadows.

Mr. Garrett leads us through our regular warm up and then dismisses us back to the band room. Once we get to the band room, the winds are having a water break and the pit is running their warm ups in the back corner. Mia looks up when we walk in and smiles at me so I smile back. Mr. Garrett joins Mr. Fairchild in his office while we set up back in the opposite corner from the pit.

We play through the opener a couple times and it’s actually starting to sound better and then the clock on the wall says it’s almost seven and Mr. Fairchild announces that it’s stopped raining so we’re going to head over to the field. “Pit, you’re coming with us, but don’t take your equipment. If you have the instrument you’re playing for the parade, bring that, please. We’re going to do basics for the rest of rehearsal. Winds and drumline, do bring your instruments, but woodwinds make sure to bring your cases, just in case it starts raining again, please.”

“Why can’t we just practice?” Felix shouts from the pit.

“Because you need to work on basics, too, Mr. Weston. Stop complaining.” Felix groans and Mr. Fairchild gives him a look. “Alright, outside in your twos please. Ready to step off in five minutes.”

“Drumline, leave the stands here and come put them away before you leave, please,” Mr. Garrett says and we all sort of silently acknowledge him as we put on our harnesses and drums before heading for the door.

The field is soggy and disgusting when we get out there and I sort of regret my choice of shoes, because these are _definitely_ going to need washed now which means I’m going to have to let them dry for a week before I can wear them again. _Stupid_. Basics are fine. It’s stupid and simple like always. “When are we going to start actually learning the drill?” I ask Benji during a water break.

“Band camp,” he says.

“Seriously?”

“Yep,” he says. “Basics and music until then. We will probably start doing the step offs for the sets with the music soon thought, so there’s that, but we won’t even look at drill sheets until the first day of camp.”

“Why not?”

He shrugs. “That’s just how it always is.”

“Weird.”

“Let’s go!” Mr. Fairchild calls through the megaphone and we drop our water jugs and run back onto the field where we left our drums sitting.

At 8:45 we fall into a huddle in the middle of the field for announcements. “Now, remember, no practice Thursday. Go enjoy the fireworks or a family barbecue or whatever, please. We’ll have practice both Tuesdays and Thursdays for the next three weeks and then we’re at band camp already. Please try to work on memorizing the opener. I want you to try it without music next Tuesday if you’re comfortable and we’re going to do the whole thing sans-music next Thursday. You’ll have sectionals both nights to work on it, but remember that we are going to run it start to finish without music on Thursday. And the ballad needs to be memorized by the first day of camp and the closer by the first day of the second week of camp, okay?” Everyone sort of nods and a few people actually say ‘okay’ back.

“At some point this month we’ll dedicate a rehearsal to stands music; most likely if we get a day where it’s going to rain on us all night, so watch the Facebook group and plan accordingly. Stands music night, I want the pit to bring the instrument they’re playing in the stands. Those of you that aren’t going to play in the stands are excused from that rehearsal, but remember, if you don’t attend you will _not_ be allowed to play in the stands later. Section leaders, if anyone in your section doesn’t have Facebook to access the group for announcements, please make sure you have arrangements that you or someone else will text/call as necessary to communicate. We’ll also start working the parade tune probably the week after next so watch out for that announcement as well and bring your parade instruments. I gave that to you in folio size, so you can use your flip files for the first couple rehearsal; at some point during band camp, I’ll announce when we’re going to go memorized on that.” He pauses for a minute to think. “Any other staff have any announcements tonight?”

“Guard is _not_ excused from stands music rehearsal,” Mr. Hartsock says. “We’ll go over some of the stands dances with them and then have a regular indoor practice in the gym.”

Once we march back over to the school and are dismissed, I follow the rest of the drumline into the band room to retrieve our stands and then we get everything put away in the drum closet. As I’m coming around the corner by the district office, I see Joel coming out of the door opposite. That must be the ramp to the stage, I realize. In the lobby I find Felix and Pilar waiting for me and since it’s not raining anymore, we start the walk home.


	17. Part 5B - Fourth of July

On Wednesday, Felix and I mow more lawns and honestly, we’re raking in the cash at this point. I might even make enough to pay my own way to _Disney_ at this rate. Thursday is the fourth of July and I have no idea what the plans even are. My mom heard there were fireworks, but not much else and Pilar is refusing to go. I don’t have any clue where the fireworks even are until Felix texts me at 5:30.

_Are you going to the fireworks?_

_I think my parents want to, but we have no idea where we’re even going._

_ms track, behind the rec. Want to come with me?_

_Uh, honestly, sounds better than sitting with my parents, so sure?_

_YES! I’ll meet you at like 7:30 and we can walk over?_

_What time are the fireworks?_

_9, but you have to be early to get a decent seat. I always sit at the brethren church. Best views; though there’s an argument to be had for behind the ms too._

_How far is that?_

_Like 15 minutes? The worst part is getting across main street, lol._

_Oh, okay, sure._

_Do you have an old blanket to bring for sitting?_

_Sure. Should I bring like snacks and a drink, or?_

_You can, but the youth group at the church always has a concession stand set up. Some kids from band go there._

_[thumbs up emoji]_

I relay this information to my parents and they say they’re going to go to the middle school because they know how to get there and I guess they’re forcing Pilar to go with them because she crosses her arms and stares daggers at me when I’m walking back to my room. We eat dinner and then Felix texts that he’s waiting outside. I check the time; it’s barely seven. I laugh to myself and grab an old blanket from the closet in the hallway and tell my parents I’m leaving.

“I thought you said the fireworks were at 9?” my dad says from the couch.

“They are. Felix is insisting we have to get there early to get a good spot to sit? I don’t understand exactly, but whatever. I’ll see you later.”

“Okay, mijo. Be safe. Have fun,” he says and then I’m out the door.

When I get outside, Felix is waiting for me with a ratty old blanket over his arm and grins broadly when I walk over to join him. “Ready to go?”

“Yep. But just to be clear, what are you planning on doing for the next two hours until these fireworks start?”

He shrugs and doesn’t say anything, so I just shake my head and follow him up the hill. We end up getting to the light right as it changes so we quickly cross and then he tells me we have to cross the other way, too, so we wait. And that light cycle is a lot longer, so we’re just standing on the street corner for a while. Once we finally get across, he leads me down Main Street. We pass an alley way but he turns onto the first actual street. We cross a street and get past some houses and then there’s three tennis courts inside a fence to the left and the track is right behind them. I can see the fireworks being sett up in field that’s surrounded by the track.

“That’s actually where the middle school band practices,” Felix tells me. “But their ‘show’,” he says with air quotes, “Is like five sets at best and most just a block moving front and back.” He laughs. “Don’t worry you’ll see it on band buddy night.”

“Band buddy night?”

“Yeah. One of the home games in September, the middle schoolers come to the game and play their ‘show’ pre-game, sit in the stands with us and then we play post-game. We get partnered up with middle schools from the same section and I guess we’re supposed to convince them to join marching band in high school or something?”

“Oh. That’s actually really cool.”

He shrugs. “I guess.”

The road curves to the right and we follow it. I see the church as soon as we’re around the corner. It’s just ahead on the left. “That _is_ the church we’re going to, right?”

“Yep. But the concession stand is on the other side and that’s usually where I sit.”

“Oh,” I say as I follow him into the parking lot and around the back of the church.

“The concession stand is in that building,” he says pointing to a small building with garage doors behind a playground on the other end of the lot. “But the fireworks are that way,” he adds pointing the opposite direction, “so let’s go down in here.” We split the difference and head into the grass between the trees that line the back of the parking lot. There’s a paved path that heads down toward what I assume is the back of the middle school past six more tennis courts and Felix leads me down to the edge of that path and then looks around “This look good to you?” he asks.

I shrug. “I have no idea.”

He laughs. “Right, uh, alright, yeah. Let’s sit here,” he decides and then he shakes out his blanket and puts it down.

“Did you say it was going to get crowded? Should we like share a blanket so we don’t take up so much room.”

“Nope,” he says, “having extra room is a hot commodity. When the other band kids show up late, we’re suddenly their favorite people.

“Oh, yeah, I guess that makes sense.”

“Basically, we’re just saving this extra space so we can a few hours of band kid popularity later,” he says with a laugh as he drops to the ground on top of his blanket.

“So, are we actually expecting anyone else, or?”

He shrugs. “Not particularly. Most people sit with their families.”

“Doesn’t your mom come?”

“Uh, no. She doesn’t do fireworks.”

“Why not?”

He swallows and seems to think about what he’s saying as he speaks. “It’s a long story, honestly. Not something we really talk about. She hasn’t come with me since like fifth grade though.”

“Oh,” I say and I decide not to ask again.

“I don’t think the concessions open until like 8 or something,” he says as he lays back and stretches.

I nod and pull out my phone to check social media. On Instagram, a lot of my friends back in Texas are at barbeques, because that’s what Texas does on the fourth of July. Felix talks non-stop the whole time but I’m only half paying attention, to be completely honest. By the time I really look up and look around again, the whole giant field behind us has been covered with blankets and folding chairs. There’s a line of people along the trees who seem to be searching for family and friends.

“Want to go to the concession stand?” Felix asks.

“Sure, but shouldn’t some stay with our blankets? This looks like the kind of situation where someone might steal our spots.”

He looks around. “And lucky for us,” he says quietly and then. “Hey, Shane!”

That’s when I notice one of the pit freshmen sitting on a blanket diagonally behind Felix’s. He looks up. “Yo, man, what’s up?”

“Would you mind watching our blankets for us? We’re just going to run up for some sodas and snacks real quick.”

“Oh, yeah, of course. No problem.”

“Thanks, man,” Felix says and I notice Shane scooting closer to keep an eye out as Felix and I both get to our feet.

As we walk through the crowd there’s a few more familiar faces that either stop us or we stop for, but soon enough we reach the concession stand. “Isn’t that Mrs. Stokes?”

“Huh?” Felix says and I point briefly. “Oh, maybe,” he says and he looks more carefully for a second. “Nope, her twin sister. Mrs. Terry.”

“But it looks…”

“They’re identical. The only way to tell is by who they’re with and that’s Chad, so it’s Mrs. Terry. Besides, Mrs. Stokes is probably working the stand.”

“Oh right, this is the church Mr. Stokes is the pastor of, right?”

“Yep,” he says and we get into the line. I get my order before him and he tells me to just head back to our seats and he’ll catch up, so I start walking.

I don’t even make it back to the crowded field when I spot, Benji standing along the trees. I freeze for minute. Maybe he’s looking for someone specific. But then his eyes meet mine and he smiles and I smile back and without thinking I start walking that direction. Next to Benji is Lucy and there with two other people I recognize as being in color guard but have no idea the names of. I’m about to say something when I notice Mia and Lake right behind them and Mia is smiling at me. My brain sort of short circuits for a second and then I decide the supposed _right_ thing to do is walk ask Mia and Lake to sit with us. Felix will appreciate that. So, I walk right past Benji even though he’s still looking at and smiling at me as I do it.

“Hey,” Mia says when I walk up next to them and Lake grins mischievously.

“Hey,” I say and I smile at Mia. Trying desperately to avoid Lake’s eyes and not think about Benji. Neither is going very well.

“Um, we have a spot down near the front if you don’t have anywhere to sit,” I say awkwardly. “Um, we have extra room.”

Mia looks at Lake and Lake nods vigorously. “Uh, yeah, sure. That sounds great.”

“Cool,” I say and then I lead Mia and Lake toward our blankets. I gesture and Mia sits down right next to me and Lake sits at the back of Felix’s blankets. “Thanks for watching our stuff, Shane,” I say over my shoulder.

He nods. “No problem, man. What happened to Felix?”

Lake’s eyes go wide and I swear she actually groans out loud. “Uh, I got done before him,” I say and I look back toward the concession stand and see Felix practically running toward us with the world’s biggest smile on his face. “Looks like he’s almost back now.” And then without my permission, my eyes dart toward the trees. Benji, Lucy, and the two other guard people are still standing there, but the guy whose name I don’t know points a second later and they all nod as they start walking. I turn back to Mia and she’s smiling at me so I smile back.

“How’d you guys get such a good spot?” Mia asks as Felix joins us and drops to his blanket, much closer to Lake than is necessary. Lake visibly cringes away from him.

“Felix showed up outside my door at five after seven,” I say with a laugh. “This kid does _not_ know how to not be the first person to get anywhere.”

Mia laughs. “Blame Mr. Fairchild for that. It’s like second nature to all of us at this point,” she says. “How’s it going with drumline anyway? I’ve always heard they were like the tightest section.”

“Um, yeah, yeah, it’s pretty good,” I say and now I’m thinking about Benji and I can _not_ think about Benji when I’m trying to talk to Mia. “It’s a lot different than Graham.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, for one you had to do marching band there. If you did band you all of band; marching and concert were just the same class.”

“Yikes,” she says. “We have some concert band only kids that would _not_ be down for that life. Did you play snare there, too?”

I nod. “Yep. We were actually pretty good. We got eighth at the Area comp last year.”

“God, wouldn’t it be nice to actually get top ten at ACC’s,” Felix says longingly and I raise my eyebrows.

“What’s that?”

“ACC’s?” he says and I just stare at him. “Atlantic Coast Championships. It’s our last competition of the season? The whole circuit and stuff.”

“Yeah, top ten would be _great_ , Felix,” Mia says, “but you seem to be forgetting that we’re group four this year. There’s no fucking way.”

“Shit, you’re right,” he says and exhales loudly.

“We’re in direct competition with Catholic,” Lake groans.

“Fuck them and their stolen school colors and their dumbass no drum major shit,” Mia says and I stare at her. “Sorry, they’re like our biggest rivals for band.”

“They don’t have a drum major?”

“Nope. They never do. They internalize the whole show. It’s crazy.”

“Not gonna lie, I’m really glad we don’t do that,” I say and they all laugh.

“Yeah, I think Township’s group four, too, aren’t they?”

“They must be. They’re hosting chapters for two and four,” Lake says.

“Right, I forgot about that,” Mia says. “Is CV three or four this year, does anyone know?” Felix and Lake both shrug.

Then there’s suddenly a loud boom and I pull my phone out to check the time. It’s five ‘til nine. “Probably a tester,” Felix says, but he shifts slightly to be facing the track more directly. No one says anything else and then five minutes later the fireworks start and they don’t stop until almost 9:45. I don’t think I’ve ever been this close to an actual fireworks display and it’s kind of a surreal experience. When the finale fizzles out the entire crowd claps and cheers loudly for another two minutes before there’s this sudden movement and everyone is getting to their feet.

“Do you guys have a ride home?” I ask Mia and Lake.

Mia nods. “My dad’s actually home by some miracle. He’s waiting in the car.”

“He didn’t want to watch the fireworks with you?”

“He had a conference call,” she says. “He _always_ has a conference call, but yeah. See you guys on Tuesday.” She waves and links her arm with Lake’s as they walk toward the parking lot together.

Felix and I fold up our blankets and pick up the trash from our snacks and sodas. Felix points out a trash can when I ask and I take all of the trash over before coming back for my blanket and then we start to walk home. We actually end up running into my parents and sister at the light before we cross the street and my parents ask if we had fun. Of course, Felix has to tell them that I invited Mia to sit with us which, of course, peaks my dad’s interest and I groan as I tell him it was nothing. I was literally just doing it to be nice and because I knew Felix would be happy it meant _Lake_ was sitting with us. But of course, he doesn’t care about Felix’s love life or lack thereof; just mine.

“Can we _not_ talk about this?” Pilar groans.

Not that I’m not extremely grateful someone else wants to change the subject as much as I do, but it is _not_ like Pilar to want to stop anyone from embarrassing me. “What’s your problem?” I ask her.

“Eric broke up with me. He said long-distance was too hard,” she says.

“Oh,” I say and I didn’t really care for Eric, to be honest, but I do care about my sister. “I’m sorry, hermana. But look at it this way, maybe you’ll find someone here…”

“Shut up,” she says.

“Yeah, okay. I’m dumb,” I say, but I put my arm around her shoulders and she snakes hers around my waist as we continue walking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's oddly already the end of Part 5. Part 6 is going to be a lot longer though.


	18. Part 6A - Another Rehearsal (7/9)

On Monday afternoon there’s a new post in “Group Awesome” of Cassie suggesting a day trip to somewhere called Knoebel’s on Friday and everyone immediately being excited about it. I have no idea what or where this is, so when Felix and I meet up to mow more lawns, I ask him about it. “What is this place Cassie wants to go on Friday?”

“Oh, shit, right, you wouldn’t know about Knoebel’s, I guess.”

“Nope,” I say looking at him. “What is it?”

“An amusement park.”

“Oh,” I say. I like amusement parks, but they’re usually expensive.

“Don’t sound so put-off,” he says and I stare at him. Because Felix has just as little money as I do as far as I know. “It’s free admission. You just buy ride tickets and pay as you go. We usually pool our money when we first get there because if you buy more than a hundred and fifty dollars-worth in one go, they’re discounted.”

“Oh, actually, that sounds really cool,” I say.

“So, you’re coming?”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“You should invite Mia. No one'd mind.”

“Maybe,” I say. I really wish everyone would stop with the Mia thing. I mean she’s nice, but… I don’t know. I don’t think that’s _enough_ , I guess.

“Think your sister’ll come?”

I shrug. “Who knows. She’d probably rather spend all weekend moping about her boyfriend breaking up with her.”

“Yikes.”

“Yeah; it’s going to be a fun couple o' weeks in the Salazar house.”

“Well, we can spend all of our non-band time mowing lawns so you don’t have to deal with it,” he suggests and I laugh.

“Pretty sure that was already the plan, wasn’t it?”

“I guess,” he agrees and by then we’re pulling the lawn mowers out of the storage locker around the corner. We spend the rest of the day mowing lawns and Felix is slightly sunburnt by the time we return home. “Forget your sunscreen today, buddy?”

He groans. “I forgot to reapply,” he says.

“Ah, the benefits of my, what did you call it? Cinnamon complexion,” I say, laughing as he locks the door of the storage locker.

“Yeah, yeah,” he groans. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow. We gotta try to rack up some good money this week so we can afford to have a good time on Friday.”

“Is it expensive?”

“No, not really. I mean it depends what you want to do. But it’s a lot more reasonably priced than like Hersheypark or Six Flags or whatever. I think water’s only three dollars! It’s a god-damned miracle. But you can actually bring your own food and drink. Like people will bring full-on picnics into the park and it’s totally fine.”

“Oh, wow,” I say and he nods.

“Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He waves and walks toward the front door of his apartment building while I walk toward mine.

When I get inside, Pilar is sitting on the sofa with her arms crossed over her chest and my mom’s in the kitchen making dinner. “Hola, Mami,” I say as I walk past.

“Hola, mijo. How’d you do today?”

“Good. We got a bunch done.”

She smiles at me and I walk into the living room and sit down next to my sister. “What’s your problem now?” I ask her. She doesn’t say anything and I just sigh. “Okay, well, if you’re not gonna talk to me, I’m going to my room.” She still doesn’t say anything as she stares at me, so I get up and start walking away, but before I can even get to the hallway she finally speaks.

“What’s this thing everyone’s going on about in that Facebook group? I assume Felix told you.”

“He did,” I confirm as I turn back around. “It’s an amusement park. It’s free admission, but you pay for the rides, I guess? It actually sounds pretty cool. I was going to ask Mom and Dad about it over dinner.”

“What are you asking me about?” my mom says, poking her head out of the kitchen.

I take a deep breath and sigh. “Uh, on Friday, a bunch of our friends are going to this amusement park for the day. I was going to ask if I could go.”

“Where is it and who’s driving?”

“I actually have no idea where it is and I would assume some of the juniors and seniors that have cars are driving.”

“It’s just for the day, right?”

“Yeah, I think that’s the plan. I can confirm exact timeframe, and everything else.”

“And you have enough money for this?”

“I do.”

“Okay, well, get those details and we’ll talk to your father about it, but I think you should be allowed to go if you’re paying for it yourself.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I say and then I turn to actually walk into my bedroom. I pull out my laptop and go to Facebook and find the post. I comment.

_Victor Salazar – Hey guys, I should be able to come, but my parents want details. They want to know where exactly it is; when we’re leaving and when we’ll be back; and who’s driving, so if someone could help me out with that…_

_Cassie Brown – @Victor It’s a little under 2 hours each way; it's north of here in the middle of nowhere. I’m definitely driving as are Mitch and Jen. I think that’ll be enough seats, but we have to wait and confirm who all’s coming. If you want to tell you parents a specific person, we can just say you’ll ride with me if it makes it easier. And they’re open 11a-10p, so we’ll probably leave around 9 and be back around midnight?_

_Victor Salazar - @Cassie Thank you so much! I’ll let you know for sure in a couple hours. My mom said I had to talk to my dad when he gets home from work._

_Cassie Brown - @Victor is your sister coming, too?_

_Victor Salazar - @Cassie probably not. My mom was pretty clear that the only reason I’m probably going to be allowed is because I’m paying for myself. Pilar doesn’t have a job._

_Cassie Brown - @Victor I hear that. My mom would be the same way if I didn’t have a job. Well, keep us posted please!_

At dinner, I relay the details of the trip the both of my parents and they ask me who Cassie is, so I try to explain. “Uh, she’s in pit. She’s a senior. She’s one that drove us home from Benji’s pool party the other weekend?”

“And who all is going?”

“I actually couldn’t tell you. Apparently, we’re still waiting on a final headcount. Mitch and Jen are apparently driving, too, but they’re trying to make sure they don’t need another car. Cassie said she can definitely take me, though.”

“Okay, you can go,” my dad says. “Is that Mia girl going?”

I groan. “Felix wants me to invite her.”

“You should,” he says.

“Yeah, well, we’ll see,” I say. After dinner I reply to the post again saying that I’m officially allowed to go and I also text Felix and he again says I should ask Mia to come and I again try to deflect.

On Tuesday night, we walk to rehearsal per usually and Felix nudges me and nods when he sees Mia and Lake waiting outside the auditorium doors. “Stop,” I tell him.

“Ask her to come on Friday.”

“Please, stop.”

“Come on, man. You like her right? I mean, you’d have to be crazy not to.”

“Sure,” I say and I _do_ like Mia, but I don’t _know_ Mia and I don’t _think_ I like her the way Felix (and everyone else) seems to think I do. I don’t think I like _any_ girl that way.

“So, invite her to Knoebel’s; what’s the worst that could happen?” And _geez_ is that a loaded question, but I don’t have an opportunity to answer because Lake apparently heard Felix’s big mouth.

“What about Knoebel’s?” she says look up and toward us.

“We’re going with some people on Friday,” Felix says and then he gives me a pointed look.

“Um, did you guys maybe wanna come, too,” I ask. And I think it’s less weird if I invite Lake, too, and Felix looks like he might kiss me for that quick thinking.

“My mom already planned a beach trip this weekend, we’re leaving Friday morning,” Lake says, “but Mia’ll go, right?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess. I mean, who’s going? Who’s driving?”

“Just some other band people,” Felix says. “You can ride with us in Cassie’s car.”

Mia looks at him. “Isn’t she like a notoriously terrible driver? And honestly, her car does _not_ look safe.” I watch as her eyes fall on Cassie’s car which is parked near the pit truck at the other end of the parking lot.

“She’s not that bad. I mean, think about, she’s the only teen driver Teresa and Byron are even allowed to ride with and you’ve met their mom.”

Mia laughs. “I guess that’s true, but still… that car.”

Cassie comes walking toward us a second later. “Cassie,” Felix says and he motions her over when her head pops up. “First of all, our friend Victor has invited Mia to join us on Friday, if that’s cool with you.”

“Of course, the more the merrier,” she says with a smile.

“Can you borrow your mom’s car so we don’t have to cram in your backseat?”

“Already the plan. I’m not making anyone sit back there for two hours. I’m not cruel.”

“See, problem solved,” Felix says looking back at Mia.

“Alright, yeah, why not. What time are we leaving?”

“Nine-ish,” Cassie says. “Where do you live?”

“Um, off Ridge Avenue? I can give you the address.”

“That the one that goes up over the mountain, right?” Mia nods. “Okay, I’ll come get you first, then we’ll grab those two and head out. I don’t think I have your number though.”

“I don’t think so,” Mia says and she pulls out her phone. “Give me yours and I’ll text you so you have mine?”

“Perfect.” That’s what happens and Cassie assures all three of us that she’ll text us further details and estimated pick up times later in the week before she disappears into the school to find Linsey and Val. I go in right after her and the other three follow me.

When I get to the drum closet, Benji and Chris are already there and pulling everything out. “Basics first, then sectionals, and then we’re working the opener as an ensemble,” Chris says when I pick up my drum.

“So, outside to march over or are we meeting in the band room first?” I ask.

“Band room first.”

“Thanks,” I say and then Benji looks up at me and kind of smirks so I tilt my head and he shrugs a little and I start walking toward the band room. The band room is already kind of crowded but I slip into the back corner near Felix and Cassie.

“So, you like Mia, right?” Cassie says to me as soon as I get there.

I roll my eyes. “I don’t know.”

“I mean, she is really attractive, so I’d totally understand.” I look at her with a raised eyebrow. “What?”

I shrug. “She’s pretty and she’s nice, but I don’t really know her.”

“Well, you’re about to have a solid 15 hours with her on Friday, so you’ll get to know her quite well I’d venture to guess,” she says with a laugh and a wink.

I sigh and then Benji walks over. “Hey, guys,” he says and I immediately turn around to face him without thinking about the fact that I have my drum on. Our drums bang into each other and we both almost fall over, but catch ourselves on chairs.

“What is going on back there!?!” Mr. Garrett shouts from the door of Mr. Fairchild’s office.

“Nothing, sorry,” I say and I can feel my face heating up.

“As long as you didn’t hurt the drums, I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that,” Ivan says from where I didn’t seem him walking up behind Benji.

Benji pulls his drum off his harness and looks at it. “Mine’s fine,” he says.

I look at my drum, too and everything looks the same. “We’re good.” I give a thumbs up to Ivan and he chuckles a little.

“Good, but don’t do that again, please. Those suckers are expensive.”

“Sorry,” I say quietly and Ivan nods just as I can hear someone clearing their throat behind me. I turn around again and Mr. Fairchild has his hand in the air to ask for silence as the chatter of the crowded room dies down.

“Good evening, folks,” he says, looking around. “We’re going to spend the whole night over on the field. When I dismiss you here, I want pit to go get your equipment and come over to the field. We’re going to be doing basics with everyone else, but you can go ahead and warm-up once you’re over there and start your sectional. After basics at about seven, we’ll break into sectionals for everyone. Warm-up and then work on the opener; try to do it without music if you can. Only take a music stand over if you _need_ it for the opener, please. And then at about eight, I’ll call everyone back together. We’ll arc up and play through the opener without music to see where everyone’s at and then we’ll work on cleaning whatever needs it and play through it a couple times before we’re done. Any questions?” He looks around, but no one says anything or raises a hand so he nods and dismisses us to our twos.

Basics is fine. It’s all second nature now. The only part that’s a little annoying is pit being on the sidelines trying to practice with Rich on a gock block while Don cranks Doctor Bear through the loud speaker for us. There’s just so much clicking I’m starting to get a headache by the time we’re finally told to take a water break and then head to sectionals.

Mr. Stokes and Jolyn are missing tonight, so it’s just Ivan and Mr. Garrett and they decide we’re doing a full drumline sectional without breakouts which disappoints me more than it probably should. We actually sound pretty good now and I think even Andrew has the opener at least _mostly_ memorized, though he seems to be glancing over at Chris every few bars trying to make sure he’s doing the right thing. Benji and I are both totally memorized and completely in sync which Ivan complements multiple times.

“I like that little visual you two are doing in the first drum break,” he says at one point.

Benji chuckles. “Yeah? I don’t know. It was just something we came up with during breakouts last week,” he says.

“It’s good, man,” Ivan says. “Can you two step out and face Chris and Andrew so they can see what you’re doing? I’d like to see if all four of you can add that.”

“Sure,” Benji says and we both walk forward and turn around to face the tenors. Ivan stick clicks the tempo and counts us in for just Benji and I to play the part.

Chris nods along. “That is cool,” he agrees, glancing at Ivan.

“Yeah, can you two try it with them now?” Chris and Andrew nod and then Ivan clicks and counts us in again. Andrew messes it up the first time, but we try it a few more times and he gets it. “Fall back in, please,” Ivan says and Benji and I walk back into our regular spots between the tenors and basses.

We run the whole movement a few more times with the whole line and then Mr. Garrett tells us to head over toward the pit so we can run it with the full percussion, too. It actually sounds really cool once we add all the auxiliary stuff in and mallets and Felix’s timpani part of course, but the auxiliary stuff really pulls it together. At 7:50, Mr. Garrett tells us to take a water break before the full ensemble runs and we take off our drums to leave them behind the pit as we walk toward the hill.

“Hey, you sound really good tonight,” Benji says when we get to our water jugs.

“Yeah? Well, you do, too.”

“Thanks,” he says with a little smile before he takes a drink from his water.

The first attempt at playing the entire opener without music is a bit of a trainwreck to be completely honest, but after we chunk it down for almost an hour, the final play through of the night is at least half-way decent. We march back over to the school and put our drums in the closet before heading out for the night. Pilar is already waiting for me in the auditorium lobby, but Felix is nowhere to be seen, so we walk outside. I look to the right and I can see him talking to Cassie near her car on the other end the parking lot. We wait a few minutes and he’s finally waving goodbye and jogging toward us.

“Hey, hey,” he says when he arrives. “Sorry about that. Just ironing out tehe plans for Friday!” Pilar raises her eyebrows and rolls her eyes as she starts walking. Felix and I look at each other for a second and then I sigh as we follow after her.

“Look, lo siento, hermana. I wish you could come, too.” She doesn’t say anything. “Pilar, don’t be like that.”

“I’m not _being like_ anything,” she spits. “You act like I would _want_ to go to some stupid janky amusement park with you freaks anyway.”

“Watch your mouth,” Felix says. “Knoebel’s is _not_ janky, thank you very much. It’s fuckin' awesome. Their roller coasters _and food_ win awards all the time!”

Pilar rolls her eyes. “Whatever.”

I decide to just let her be and talk to Felix. “So, do we have a final tally of who all’s coming, yet?”

He nods. “A bunch of people either have to work or aren’t allowed, but I think it’s fourteen total. Jen’s driving. She’ll take Mindy, the Williamses, and Emilee’s boyfriend.”

“Is that Emilee and Amy?” I ask.

“Oh yeah. I forgot you didn’t know their last name. Um, Mitch is driving. He’s taking Ally, obviously, and then Theresa, Ellen, and Clare.”

Pilar groans and Felix looks at her. “She and Clare were actually becoming friends, I think. This might put a damper on that,” I tell him. "Also Theresa with an h or without?"

"With," he says. "Teresa, no h, and Byron aren't allowed to ride that far with teen drivers. They're barely allowed in Cassie's car for fifteen minutes across town." I no a little and then he continues. "Uh, then Cassie’s take me, you, and Mia.”

“Doesn’t Cassie have a boyfriend? Isn’t he coming?”

Felix laughs. “He’s too cool for us. Actually, it’s not even that. The poor guy gets really motion sick really easily. He never did amusement park trips unless it was to get out of school for the day.”

“Oh! I guess that makes sense, but you said Knoebel’s is free to get in, right? Couldn’t he just come and hang out and wait for us on the rides he doesn’t like?”

“He also doesn’t like heights, so he rides next to nothing,” Felix says. “He’s a party-pooper, honestly. You don’t want him there. I mean, Ellen doesn’t do rides either for the most part, but she’s the ultimate mom friend and will hold all our stuff while we go on. Sort of ideal.”


	19. Part 6B - Another Summer Rehearsal (7/11)

Felix and I mow more lawns all day on Wednesday and on Thursday morning. When we walk to practice on Thursday, it’s not raining but it definitely looks like it might. Felix checks his weather app and tells us there’s going to be a brief rain shower, but it should be over by like 7:30. I wonder what the plan for rehearsal is, because Mr. Fairchild’s post in the Facebook group said it was going to be a regular rehearsal not the promised night of stands tunes. When we get to the school, some of the staff are waiting outside and they tell us we’re going to do indoor sectionals for the first hour. Except pit doesn’t do ‘indoor sectionals’. Felix heads toward the truck to help unload and get to the overhang before the rain starts and Pilar heads toward the gym where the color guard is meeting. I head to the drum closet where I find Chris, Benji, and Savannah already waiting. “Hey, Victor,” Chris says and I pick up my drum. “Grab your stand, too and we’re gonna go on the stage.”

I slip my harness and drum on, because it’s easier to carry that way and then I grab the metal stand, too. I’m about to head for the music hallway when Joel walks by. “I got your lights on then,” he says to Chris and Chris nods and thanks him.

A hand clasps on my shoulder and I look up to find Benji. “Go that way, it’s easier with all that stuff,” he says, gesturing back toward the district office.

“Oh, right,” I say and I turn around to start walking the other direction. When Benji releases my shoulder, I swear it feels like it’s on fire, but I try to ignore it. Mia and Lake walk by as I’m opening the stage door and Lake just smirks and keeps walking while Mia stops.

“Hey,” she says.

“Oh, hey,” I say and I smile at her.

“Um,” she says and she looks nervous. “I wanted to thank you for inviting me tomorrow. I, uh, love that kind of stuff, but I really never get to go because my dad’s always out of town most of the summer and people usually go with their families or whatever. So, I’m really excited.”

I smile at her. “Yeah, no problem. It should be a good time. I’ve obviously never been, but Felix won’t shut up about it.”

She laughs. “I haven’t been in a couple years, but it was always one of my favorites as a kid. My parents used to take me before my dad became college president and before my mom left.” She smiles uncomfortably. “Anyway, I’ll, uh, talk to you later.”

“Yeah, okay,” I say and then she waves as she walks around the corner toward the band room. Andrew, Teddy, and Kieran walk by a second later and I swear Andrew looks like a combination of confused and pissed about something, but honestly, I couldn’t care less what it's about. I walk onto the stage and set up. I’m joined a few minutes later by Savannah and Sue. A minute after them, Andrew, Teddy, and Kieran arrive. And a minute after that Chris and Benji with Mitch practically running in ten seconds later just as Mr. Garrett comes up the stairs from the music hallway.

Mr. Garrett gives Mitch a look that says ‘don’t do that again’, but he doesn’t say anything about it. “Alright, guys, we’re going to start with some warm-ups and then I want to clean up the opener. Rich and Jo are out with the pit. Ivan and Mr. Stokes will be joining us a little later this evening before we head outside, so you’re stuck with me for now.” A few people groan sarcastically and Mr. Garrett laughs. “Oh, be quiet.”

We run through our normal warm-ups which I think will be engrained in my head for the rest of my life at this point and then we start working on the opener. During the first drum break, Benji and I do the visual we’ve been working on and I notice Chris doing it, too, but Andrew messes it up enough that Mr. Garrett cuts us off. “Mr. Spencer, what was that?”

“Sorry,” Andrew says.

“Beginning of the drum break, just the four of you, please,” he says as he puts his hands back up to conduct us. We do it again and Andrew actually gets it right. “I like that. Ivan was telling me about it yesterday. I hear it was your doing, Benji?”

Benji chuckles. “Uh, me and Victor. We were just playing around during breakouts and it happened.”

“Well, it’s good, so good job, both of you.”

“Thanks,” we say in unison and then we both laugh.

Mr. Garrett chuckles, too. “Alright, well, let’s try it from the top again and see if we can get clean through this time, please,” he says and then he raises his arms again. We _do_ get through the whole thing, but it’s definitely not clean, so we go back and work on it bit by bit until the winds start streaming into the auditorium unannounced and Mr. Garrett looks at his watch. “Didn’t realize the time. Alright, well we’re gonna do some music rehearsal in here before we head over to the field, so I’m gonna step down with Mr. Fairchild.” He doesn’t wait for a response before walking down the stairs from the stage and up the center aisle to where Mr. Fairchild has sat down.

Robert clears his throat and waves a hand once all of the winds are in an arc around the outside of the auditorium. “Opener from measure 2 please since we don’t have pit.” I see Miranda tell him something from where she’s standing next to him and he nods to her. The first run isn’t perfect, but it’s better than it was on Tuesday and definitely better than last week, so I guess we’re making progress.

By the time Mr. Fairchild gets up from his seat, we’ve got it sounding pretty great, actually. “Alright, we’re gonna head over to the field now. We won’t be playing, so saxes and clarinets if you wanna take your reeds off so they don’t get broken, go ahead, but everyone, do please bring your instruments. Outside in your twos ready to step off in about 10 minutes, please,” he says. He doesn’t wait for a response before turning around and walking up the aisle and out the back of the auditorium with Mr. Grarrett right behind him.

When we get outside, the color guard is already waiting for us and I see Pilar actually _talking_ to Clare and two other girls I don’t know, so that’s progress. “Your sister?” Benji asks with a raised eyebrow, nudging me.

“Huh?”

“You’re looking at the guard and have this oddly proud look on your face…”

“Oh, uh, yeah. She sort of sucks at changes, but she’s actually talking other humans right now. I’m just glad she’s finally trying a little.”

“It’s gotta be weird coming into a place like Ephrata, where everyone knows everyone and you’re just the odd ones out.”

I shrug. “It would be like that for someone to go into Graham, too. Small town vibes.”

“What part of Texas is Graham in anyway?”

“We’re like an hour and a half west of Fort Worth. Kind of the middle of nowhere, but easy enough to get to a big city if you really want to.”

He nods. “Kind of like here. Super easy to get to a small city, and we’re like an hour and a half from both Philly and Baltimore if you want a real one.”

“I didn’t realize we were that close to Philly,” I say and he nods.

“You only have to be sixteen to ride Amtrak by yourself so I’ve taken the train down from Lancaster a couple times. Mostly for concerts and stuff, but it’s a chill place. Easier to find my people there, I guess.” And I know exactly what he’s talking about. I’ve always sort of wished I lived in a big city for that exact reason. “Like there’s one gay bar in Lancaster, but they don’t even let underagers in, so I can’t go. But there’s some all-age places in Philly that are cool.”

“There’s a gay bar in Lancaster?”

“Yeah, the Tally Ho. They do a lot of drag events even. I’m sure I’ll be elated about it’s existence once I’m twenty-one,” he says with a laugh. “I mean, Lancaster even has a Pride event, which is cool, but Philly’s is obviously cooler. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m telling you any of this. You really probably don’t care.”

I shrug. “It’s okay.” The thing is _I do care_. I care _a lot_ , actually, but I can’t tell him that. I can’t tell anyone that. When I look up, Robert is waving from the front of the lines and I nudge Benji’s arm.

“Oops,” he says and then he starts tapping a beat and Robert calls the band to attention.

After practice, I’m outside the auditorium with Pilar waiting for Felix to finish loading the truck when Mia walks up next to me. “So, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” she says.

“Sounds like it,” I say and I try to smile at her. “Um, I’m really glad you could come.”

“Me, too,” she says and she bites her lip, but Lake arrives a second later and pulls her toward her mom’s car. “Bye,” Mia says waving.

“See ya,” I say.

When I turn back to my sister, she’s raising an eyebrow at me. “Do you like her or not, werido?”

“What d’you mean?”

“I mean. That was probably the most awkward conversation I’ve ever heard.”

I shrug. “Whatever.”

Cassie and Felix join us a second later. “Do you guys want a ride home?” Cassie asks. “I also wanted to go over the game plan for tomorrow with you two,” she says, pointing to me and Felix.

I glance at Pilar and she rolls her eyes. “Yeah, sure. I hate that hill already.”

Felix laughs. “You get used to it after a couple months, promise. The first few months of walking to fifth grade were the worst after five years of taking the bus out to Clay, but I've survived.”

“Wait, is fifth grade at the middle school here?”

He nods. “Uh, yeah. I mean fifth and sixth grade are _technically_ the intermediate school and seventh and eighth are the middle school, but they’re the same fucking building so it’s really just the district being dumb.”

“We should yell at Joel’s dad about it,” Cassie suggests.

“What?”

She laughs and glances at me as we start walking toward her car. “He’s on the school board and his mom is the BPA uniform nazi.”

“Didn’t you like date him or something?”

“I did _not_. Who told you that?” I nod toward Felix. “Felix, you know that’s not true.”

“Come on, you were as good as dating!”

“Except we weren’t, so shush,” she says as she opens the passenger side door of her car. She starts getting in and I’m really confused but Felix is just waiting. She crawls over the center console and into the driver’s seat and I guess she notices the look on my face. “My door’s broke,” she says. “I can technically use it, but it’s a pain in the ass. My grandfather’s supposed to be getting a guy to fix it next time I go up there, which should be next weekend if I can find someone to cover my Sunday shift.”

“Where do your grandparents live?” I ask as I follow Felix into the backseat.

“Perry County,” she says. “It’s the actual middle of nowhere on the other side of Harrisburg. There’s not a single traffic light or parking meter in the entire county. It’s just a whole lot of old people, Amish people, and conservative nightmares. Like, I’m pretty sure if anyone up there, my grandparents included, ever found out I wasn’t straight I wouldn’t be allowed anymore.”

“But you have a boyfriend…”

“The world isn’t just gay or straight, Texas boy,” she says. “I’m pan and my boyfriend is actually bi, too, so super queer on the inside and super hetero on the outside. Sort of perfect for our weird little red county with a bright blue dot in the middle. _God,_ I love Lancaster. I swear I’m moving down there after college. So jealous of my cousins that have gotten to grow up in the city.”

“Do you know where you’re going to college yet?” Felix asks.

“Probably Millersville because I’m lame and it’s cheaper than anywhere else I’d wanna go and could get into. Emilee’s probably going there, too, so we’ll probably room together or something.”

“You’re gonna live on campus? Don’t most people just commute from here?” Felix asks.

“Miranda and Jolyn lived on campus!” she says. “Which is literally the only reason Emilee’s mom is considering letting her.”

“Right, cause they all go to the same church. But wait doesn’t Amy go to like Clarion or something?”

“Yes and yes. She does, but that’s because it was there or Kutztown to be a Library Science major and Amy is the ultimate nerd,” Cassie says and then she’s already pulling up in front of Felix’s apartment. “Sorry, I didn’t even ask which building you guys live in.”

“It’s cool, we’re the one on the other end of this set,” I tell her as I climb out of the backseat.

“Oh, sweet. Um, so tomorrow morning, I wanna leave by like 9, so we get there with a little time to spare before opening and so we can stop for coffee and maybe breakfast because honestly, road trips are impossible without coffee.”

“Truth,” Felix says and I watch as Pilar’s already walking toward our building.

“I’m getting Mia at 8:45 and then I’ll come for you two. I’m driving my mom’s car, which Felix knows, but it’s a blue four-door ford focus and it’s a thousand times newer and nicer than this piece of shit. Not that I don’t appreciate the Barney-mobile and the fact that my grandparents bought it for me without me asking, but _J_ _esus_.”

“Do you really call it the Barney-mobile?”

“Unfortunately. It was my brother’s doing.”

“You have a brother?”

“I have three! But I don’t speak to two of them because they’re step-brothers on my dad’s side and I haven’t seen my dad since I was six, but you don’t need the tragic back story. My brother-brother is my half-brother from my mom and stepdad, or well ex-stepdad, I guess. He’s six, so yes. It’s the Barney-mobile.”

“Oh,” I say.

“Okay, well, we’ll see you at like 8:55 then?” Felix says and Cassie nods.

“Something like that. I just hope I can find Mia’s house. She texted me directions, but she lives up one of those weird private roads in the woods on top the mountain.”

“Stupid rich people,” Felix says.

“Hey, don’t talk about Victor’s future girlfriend like that!”

I groan. “Okay, I’m leaving now. None of that tomorrow, please. Bye!” I don’t wait for a response before jogging toward my building.


	20. Part 6C - Knoebels Trip, Part 1

Pilar isn’t even awake, or at least she’s not out of her room, when I’m leaving to go outside and wait for Cassie with Felix. My mom asks me a thousand times if I’m sure I have everything I need and I tell her to stop worrying. Then she asks if I want coffee and I tell her Cassie said we’re going to stop on the way and she finally relents and I make my escape. Felix is already waiting for me outside when I get there. He says Cassie texted him five minutes ago to say she was leaving Mia’s.

“Shotgun!” he shouts as soon as the car pulls up and then he laughs and winks at me as he opens the door. Mia is already inexplicably in the back seat, so I get in next to her as I roll my eyes at Felix.

“Good morning!” Cassie practically sings. She is way too happy for this early in the morning.

“So, are we meeting up with everyone else before we head up, or just meeting there?” Felix asks as he slides into the front seat and buckles his seatbelt.

“We’re meeting at the school to start the caravan, because apparently, I’m the only one that actually knows how to get there. I mean google maps or whatever, but still.” She glances in the rearview mirror. “Seatbelts on?”

“Yep,” I say and she nods and then pulls out.

“Hey,” Mia says quietly, bumping my arm across the back seat.

“Hey,” I say and I smile at her. She smiles back.

When we get to the school, Cassie parks in the back row against the stadium. "I think the Dickersons are supposed to be walking over and I know Theresa’s driving down here so Mitch doesn’t have to drive all the way out there.”

“Where does Theresa live?” Mia asks.

“Mohler Church Road,” Cassie says, “up behind Green Dragon.”

“Okay, what the fuck is Green Dragon?” I ask.

They all laugh and Cassie turns around to look at me. “Felix hasn’t drug you out there yet?”

I shrug and Felix says, “Shit, man, we have to go next week.”

“What is it?”

“Farmer’s market? Flea market? I don’t even know, but it’s _Green Dragon_ , man; it’s an Ephrata institution.”

I look at Mia. “Do _you_ know what they’re talking about?”

She nods and stares wide-eyed at me. “ _Obviously_. Like Felix said, it’s an institution. I can’t believe you’ve never been.”

“I did just move here like a month ago.”

“Okay, but you’ve been here an entire month and you haven’t gone to Green Dragon?” Cassie says.

“Apparently.”

She shakes her head a little, but then a bright turquoise jeep pulls in next to us. It’s driven by Jen. She and Cassie wave to each other and then windows roll down and they’re shouting between cars. “We ready to rock ‘n’ roll?” Jen shouts.

“Yeah, yeah, we’re just waiting on Mitch. He should be here any minute. And I think the Dickersons are walking over and Theresa’s supposed to be driving down here…”

Then a car pulls in on the other side of us and it’s Theresa, so Felix rolls his window down, too. “Hey,” Cassie calls. “Has anyone heard from Mitch or Ally yet?”

“Nope. Ellen and Clare are on their way over though,” Theresa says.

“Felix, text Ally, would you?” Cassie says and Felix pulls out his phone.

A few seconds later he looks up and says, “They’re leaving Ally’s house now. Ally’s mom was giving Mitch a safe-driving lecture, apparently.”

Cassie laughs. “It can’t possibly be as bad as the questioning and lecture I got from Mrs. Swanson before the first time I drove Teresa to the movies.”

“ _God_ ,” Felix says. “She’s too much.”

“Almost as bad as Mrs. Williams,” Cassie says.

“What about my mom?” Amy calls from the backseat of Jen’s jeep.

“Teresa’s mom and her safe-driving lecture. Felix said she was ‘too much’ and I said she was almost as bad as your mom.”

Amy laughs. “Not even close!”

“No competition,” Emilee echoes from next to her.

Ellen and Clare walk up between Theresa’s car and Cassie’s a minute later and Ellen asks where Mitch is. “On his way,” Cassie says. “Ally’s mom was giving him a lecture about safe driving.”

“Shocked our parents didn’t insist on doing that,” Clare says.

“Honestly,” Ellen agrees.

Mitch finally pulls in on the other side of Theresa’s car and gets out to come talk to everyone. “Hey, hey, sorry we’re late.”

“We heard you were getting lectured by your future mother-in-law,” Cassie says and Mitch nods. “Where do we wanna go for coffee?”

“We’re going to 501, right?” Jen asks.

“Yeah,” Cassie confirms.

“That place in Brickerville’s pretty good…”

“Copper Cup? That works as good as anything,” Cassie says.

“I need gas, so I’m gonna stop at the Turkey Hill next door, I guess and they can walk over for coffee?” Mitch says.

“Perfect,” Cassie agrees. “Let’s get going! Wait, do we want to go the back way to Clay or down Main Street?”

“Back way!” Jen shouts.

Cassie gives a thumbs up before closing her window and then Mitch and his passengers head for his car and Cassie backs out of her parking space and heads toward the exit. She waits to pull out until both Jen and Mitch are behind her and then she turns left. She turns right at the four-way stop in front of the school and Felix points to the first house around the corner on the right. “That’s Ellen and Clare’s house, by the way.”

“Oh, wow. They’ve got an easy commute to school.”

“Right? No dumbass hill.”

We go straight at the light and then Felix points to the first road to the right. “And that’s the back way into the middle school.”

Cassie takes the next right that isn’t into an apartment complex and we’re driving through open fields. “If you keep going straight on the road we turned off, you eventually get to Val’s farm,” Felix says.

“Val lives on a farm?”

“Yep. So many cows.”

We go through an uneven intersection and then Cassie takes the next right and we end up taking a left onto the part of Main Street my family came into town from on our first day here. It’s a little ways, but Felix points to the next road on the right and tells me the Elementary School is back there. “Okay, but that other one was so much closer than this…”

“Yep,” he says. “I’m telling you the district lines are _weird._ Wait, Mia, you when to Highland, right?” He glances back at her.

“No, I went to Fulton. We didn’t move to the house we have now until I was already in Middle School and my dad became University President. We lived in the apartment complex across from Benji’s house before that.”

“Right! I forgot about that.” When we get to the ice cream shop where my family had lunch on the day we moved in, Felix points again. “And Cassie lives back there!”

“Wait, you do? Why did you drive all the way to get us?”

“Because yinz needed a ride?” she says with a laugh. “Don’t worry, you’ll get to come to my house eventually, I’m sure. By far the biggest and therefore best for hosting events with the general crew. I’m thinking we should do a game night at some point between band camp and school, actually.”

“Yes, please!” Felix says.

“Cassie, why do you say yinz? Isn’t that a Pittsburgh thing?” Mia asks and I hadn’t even noticed, honestly. The lack of y’all up here is actually a little weird.

“It is. My family’s from outside Johnstown. My grandparents rub off on me sometimes. Like how I say ‘crick’ and add R's to words that don’t have them. Okay I don’t actually do that second one, but some of my cousins do and it’s hilarious. Matt and Mike even do that sometimes, to be fair, but they did just move out here a few years ago.”

A few minutes later Cassie turns into the lot of Copper Cup which is in a building that I swear looks more like a bank than a coffee shop which I mention. “That’s because it used to _be_ a bank,” Cassie says with a laugh.

“Oh.”

“Okay, what do yinz want? I’ll just get everything to make it easier and you can pay me back or pay for my soda or whatever at Knoebel’s if you so desire.”

“I’ve never been here,” Mia says.

“Me, either, I mean, obviously,” I say.

“Ah, well, it’s a coffee shop. They also have like pastries and stuff if you want something to munch on.”

“Um, can I just get the biggest cold brew or iced coffee or whatever they sell, please?” I say.

“Yep. Do you need cream or sugar?”

“No thanks.”

“You got it. Mia?”

“Iced Caramel Latte, biggest they’ve got.”

“Simple enough, and Felix?”

“Large Iced Coffee with Mocha syrup and almond milk.”

Cassie nods and pulls forward to the ordering station. She relays all of our orders perfectly and add her own. Then she asks Felix to hand her her wallet as she pulls up to the window. She hands over her card and then puts it away before taking the carrier with all four drinks and handing it to Felix. “I’m gonna go park over by Turkey Hill to wait for everyone else,” she says and then she pulls through the parking lot and parks in front of the gas station next door.

Once everyone else is back in their cars and we confirm that we’re ready to go, Cassie turns left out of the side entrance of the parking lot and we drive into the woods. We drive and we drive; there’s a couple tiny towns and one slightly bigger town along the way, but mostly it’s a whole lot of nothing. Cassie and Felix keep talking about stuff I don’t understand, but Mia laughs when they do most of the time, so I guess she understands. This place is starting to feel a little isolating. Half-an-hour into the drive, we go past a giant sign signaling the entrance to “Camp Swatara” and they all cheer. I’m just confused as confused as I have been the whole time, but this time I actually say something. “The whole fifth grade goes there on a trip every May. We go for like 3 nights or something. It’s actually really cool. We do all sorts of cool summer camp activities.”

“Not as cool as my old summer camp though!” Cassie says.

“Yeah, well, you went for a whole week and it _music_ camp, right?”

“Yep. Back when it still existed,” she says and then she sighs.

“What happened?” I ask.

“We didn’t have enough people interested, so they cancelled it. That was honestly the most depressing email I’ve ever gotten. Though I get to see a handful of my friends this year because we play Dallastown in football for whatever reason.”

“Yeah, I saw that. Them and Downingtown? What’s with all this whacky travel?” Felix says.

“No clue. Apparently, PIAA forgot what league we were in.” They all laugh.

“I don’t understand half the things you guys say, I hope you realize that,” I tell them. They just laugh and then try to explain.

The road makes a sharp right Cassie takes it too fast so Mia sort of falls across the seat toward me. “Sorry!” Cassie says. “Are you okay, Mia?”

“Fine,” she says as she sits back up. A little after the turn, we cross the Appalachian trail according to the signs.

“it’s funny because the Appalachian also runs right behind the camp I went to. We’d occasionally get hikers that would walk down to camp to use the shower and phone at the dining hall because Dave’s the kind of guy that people tell their friends about.”

“Who’s Dave?” I ask.

“He owns the camp I went to. Really nice guy.”

We go up this huge hill and not long after, the road comes to an end and Cassie sort of waits at the light for Jen and Mitch to catch up before turning left. “Does anyone need to pee or anything before we get on the highway?” Cassie asks. We all shake our heads. “No texts from our other co-pilots?” she asks and Felix and he shakes his head again. “Alright, onto 81, we go.” And a few seconds later I see why she was asking. There’s a Arby’s and McDonald’s and then we turn right and merge onto an actual highway. But we’re only on the highway for maybe 15 minutes when Cassie takes an exit for Minersville. “It’s only another half-hour or so,” she says as we turn left off the exit.

Ten minutes later she makes another left and we follow another road through the woods and a few small towns for a little while. Felix’s phone buzzes about fifteen minutes after that and he tells Cassie that Mitch’s car wants to stop at Sheetz and she agrees. “Text Jen’s car and let them know we’re stopping.” A couple minutes later, Cassie pulls into a Sheetz parking lot on the left just before a light and suddenly the roads are a lot busier even though we still seem to be in the middle of nowhere.

“Why are there so many cars?” I ask as she parks.

“We’re almost there. They’re all goin' the same place we are,” she says as she turns off the engine. “Bathroom break and grab some drinks if you want; you know, before we’re stuck with only Pepsi products including Mountain Dew that takes vaguely of birch beer for the rest of the day!”

“What’s birch beer and why does the Mountain Dew taste like it?” I ask.

Felix and Cassie both laugh. “Uh, birch beer is Pennsylvania’s answer to root beer and honestly it’s a lot better, but I can’t handle more than like a single serving per year because it is _strong_. Which is also why the Mountain Dew tastes like it. Only at the food court though. They don’t have birch beer at every stand, so the Mountain Dew is safe in most of the park.” Cassie explains as she opens her door and we all get out. Jen parks next to us and Mitch parks next to her.

It’s probably fifteen minutes later when we’re all finally back at the cars. “Okay, when we get there I’m going to tell them that the three cars are together so they don’t try to separate us in the lot,” Cassie says.

“Good plan,” Jen says and Mitch nods.

Once we’re all back in the cars, Cassie pulls toward the opposite exit of the parking lot and then turns right once traffic lets her. We go straight through the traffic light and then follow the road through town and then the woods for a few minutes until there’s a golf course on the right and then we get to a Y in the road and Cassie goes to the left. “Campground’s the other way, but we’re not staying,” she says with a laugh.

I still don’t see any signs of an amusement park nearby, but Cassie turns right at the next light and there’s suddenly two lanes which are packed with nearly standstill traffic. “Looks like we picked a popular day to come,” she says. A minute later we go under a giant sign that says “Welcome to Knoebels” and I still can see no evidence of an amusement park.

“Okay, clearly we’re almost there,” I say, “but where the hell is it?”

They all laugh. “Give it a second, because we really just _are_ there at this point. Just look out your side of the car and you’ll see some of the rides after these trees. Granted it is just kiddie rides in this corner, but still. And a few seconds later, she’s right. There’s a giant slide around a rocket ship and some pavilion looking things and then straight ahead is a yellow and blue roller coaster track.

“Oh!”

They all laugh. “Exactly. They hide the place really well, don’t they?” There’s some train tracks on the right and motorcycle parking spaces in front of a kiddie coaster and then we’re going under what looks like a ski lift with bright orange seats and passing by the roller coaster that we already saw.”

“Is that the only coaster?” I ask.

“Nope. There’s three wooden ones and one of them is like something out of a sci-fi world because it barely has a track and took them years to get safe enough to let people on. Honestly, this one sucks in comparison to all three of the others,” Felix says. “The Phoenix is in like the top ten wooden coasters in the country or something.”

“I’ve never seen a wooden coaster in person,” I say.

“Wait, really?” I nod and shrug. “Well, you’re about to have your mind blown.”

After the roller coaster, there’s a pavilion that seems to be used for storage and then the parking lot which is actually just a huge open field. When we pull in the guy tries to just wave us forward, but Cassie rolls her window down. “Me and the teal jeep and the red sedan behind it are all together…”

“Okay, well, you can all head down that way,” the guy says and gestures for us to turn right toward the park.

“Thanks!” Cassie says and she leaves the window down as she turns and moves slowly forward. We’re all directed into the same row and parked next to each other, so a few minutes later when we’re all climbing out of the cars it’s easy to organize. “It’s a weekday,” Cassie says, “so if we want to do a money pool to buy tickets we can get the discount, but it’s also bargain night, so I don’t know how we wanna do this.”

“I say, we focus on the coasters, haunted house, skyway, etc. during the day. And we can like eat dinner before we go get our hands stamped. Then we can try to hit all the stuff that’s included on bargain night after 6,” Jen says.

“Yeah, that makes sense. So, do we want to each put twenty bucks in on tickets? That would put us at two eighty, so we’d definitely get the ten percent off. Like we can do that for now and then if we need more, we can get them later, but that should be a good start, right?” Everyone shrugs and agrees and then hands Cassie a twenty-dollar bill. “I feel so rich!” she says as we start walking toward the park.

“Feel free to bathroom break and I’ll meet you guys back over here with the tickets,” Cassie says when we get into the park. She gestures to a large building with bathrooms on the left and then takes off past the largest ferris wheel I’ve ever seen.

“That’s massive,” I say looking up at it.

“Tallest in the state, I think,” Felix says, “or it used to be anyway.”

“Mia!” Ellen says with a smile, walking over. “I didn’t know you were coming with us!”

“Victor invited me,” Mia says and she smiles at me, so I smile back.

“New kid’s already invitin' more new kids. You keep this up and our group’s gonna include half the band!”

“Sorry?”

Ellen laughs. “I’m joking, kid, don’t worry about it. The more the merrier! Why didn’t your sister come?”

“Uh, my parents only let me come because I’m paying for it myself and she doesn’t have a job or anything.”

“Ah, yeah, makes sense.”

Cassie returns carrying a mountain of ticket books a minute later and starts passing them out; one twenty-dollar book for each of us and then she hands us each two single one-dollar tickets from a roll. “The lady looked at me like I was nuts when I told her what I wanted,” she says, “but whatever. And there’s three extra dollars of tickets for whoever needs them, I guess. I figured that was the best way to divide everything back?” We all agree and then someone, I can’t even pinpoint who because I think it was just a collective decision, decides we’re going to ride “Impulse” first, which turns out to be the roller coaster we saw from the road.

Ellen doesn’t do roller coasters, so we all hand her our loose articles, or well set them on the bench next to her and head for the line. Cassie is wearing a real-life fanny pack and I can’t believe people actual own those, to be honest, but she claims they’re the only right option for amusement parks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanny packs ARE the only right option for amusement parks. This is not open for debate.
> 
> Also, Knoebel's is one of my favorite places, so if you ever find yourself in PA with an extra day on your hands, check it out.


	21. Part 6D - Knoebel's Trip, Part 2

The line for Impulse takes about twenty minutes and then we’re on the platform. I end up in a row between Mia and Felix with an empty seat between me and Felix. Mitch, Ally, Theresa, and Clare are in the row behind us. The other six are on the next ride as it only seats two rows of four at a time. When we’re done, we go and retrieve our stuff from Ellen’s bench and check out our pictures. Mia buys a copy, which the rest of us tell her is ridiculous, but she just shrugs.

“Cookies?” Cassie says as we start walking and suddenly everyone gets excited. We walk around the end of the roller coaster and there’s a building shaped like a loaf of bread. We walk behind this building and there’s a counter selling every kind of cookie imaginable. We all buy one and eat them quickly.

“Okay, these are delicious,” I say.

“I’m pretty sure the only cookies better than these are the ones at Chocolate World,” Felix says. “Because nothing will ever beat those peanut butter cup cookies.”

“True,” Cassie says, “but these are also pretty damn good.”

“Okay, what’s Chocolate World?” I say because clearly everyone else knows what the heck they’re talking about.

“Chocolate World is only the greatest place ever!” Jen says.

“The happiest place on earth!” Emilee adds and they all laugh for some reason.

“That doesn’t help.”

“It’s right outside Hersheypark, but it’s like a massive Hershey’s store and there’s a ride that shows you how chocolate’s made or whatever. But there’s this huge food court area that includes a stand which sells the best cookies ever,” Felix finally says.

“That makes slightly more sense,” I say and no one tries to explain any further.

“Should we do the skyway while we’re over here?” Emilee asks and points toward the ski lift which is behind us. Everyone shrugs and decides why not so we head toward it.

I end up sitting with Mia and the ride moves really slowly so we get to talking. “Did you even ask your parents before agreeing to come today?” I ask her.

She shrugs. “Didn’t need to.”

“Your parents don’t care?”

“Well, my mom’s not in the picture and my dad travels a lot for work, so I can pretty much do whatever I want.”

“That sucks,” I say and she gives me a look. “I didn’t mean to be rude. I just don’t know what I’d do without my parents and you must be home alone all the time; it sounds a little lonely.”

She nods a little. “Yeah. It wasn’t always that way. We didn’t always live up on the mountain in a customized mansion.” I swear she laughs. “Before my mom left and before my dad was college president, we lived in an apartment. I think I mentioned it earlier, actually. Have you been to Benji’s yet?” I nod. “The complex across the street where Lucy lives is where we used to live. It was always cluttered with books and papers. And there was never enough hot water for the shower.”

“Yeah, that sounds rough.”

She shrugs a little. “Yeah. I’d do anything to live in that apartment again, but instead I pretend I love it on the mountain. Because, I have my own bathroom and a pool and no rules. Who wouldn’t want that?” We’re quiet for a second. “Sometimes it’s easier to just plaster on a smile and let people see what they want, ya know?”

And that one I definitely understand, so I nod. “Yeah, yeah, I do. Um, I’m basically scared shitless of not fitting in here. It’s like, how am I supposed to know how to fit in or who I’m supposed to fit in with when I have no idea who I am.”

She smiles and nods and then we both look away. “I get that.” Then we look back at each other and smile again. The seat we’re on turns the corner at the top of the hill and now we’re looking down over the park.

“Oh wow, this view!”

She chuckles. “It’s pretty great, right?” She points out some things as we’re descending and I try to remember what she’s saying, but I think it might be a lost cause. My brain’s still trying to figure out what to do about Mia. Because now that I’m actually talking to her, _I do_ like her. I’m just not sure how that all fits in with the fact that up until this moment, I was about ninety-nine percent sure that wouldn’t be possible.

Once we’re all back on the ground, Cassie says, “Does anyone want fries? Because I kind of want fries.” A few people chuckle, but we eventually agree that fries sound good; they sound even better once I taste them, because _holy shit_ these fries are good. Then we end up at a stand literally shaped like a lemon to buy lemonade and orangeade before walking down what seems to be a road out of the park.

“Where are we going?”

“The Twister, probably,” Felix says as he shoves a handful of fries in his mouth. We go over a bridge and there’s a full-on actual swimming pool on the left with waterslides and the whole works.

“No one said there was a pool…”

“That’s because we’re not going to the pool,” Cassie says. “The pool is _not_ for day trips. The slides are fucking awesome though. My family used to come for a whole week every summer. We’d rent one of the cottages the park owns and you get free pool passes when you do that, so we only had to pay for the slide passes.”

We pass a couple buildings on the right and then there’s a path back into the park, but we don’t take it; instead, we keep walking and eventually take a bridge to the left and there’s a massive wooden roller coaster on the other end. “Holy shit!” I say and Felix laughs as he claps my shoulder.

“Told you, you were about to have your mind blown! Fair warning though, this one shakes a lot. Especially going around those Helixes in front, so try to keep your head steady so you don’t get a headache!”

“The Phoenix is far superior,” Cassie agrees walking up next to him, “but we have to give you the full experience and my mom actually _prefers_ this monstrosity for some reason.”

“You mom’s weird,” Felix says.

“And this is definitely not the only reason why.”

Ellen isn’t riding again and Theresa decides to wait with her this time. This line takes a little longer, probably thirty-five or forty minutes until we reach the platform and then we organize ourselves into twos and get into six consecutive lines. We have to let people in front of us until we’re all on the same ride. I’m riding with Mia again. Cassie and Felix are in front of us and Mitch and Ally are behind us. At one point the ride goes around a corner and there’s a camera flash before we go through a tunnel. After the ride, we go to see our pictures and Mia buys a copy again. Someone asks her if she’s going to buy every single one all day and she says maybe. I swear I hear someone grumble “rich kids” under their breath, but Mia doesn’t say anything, so I don’t either. We pick our things back up from the bench where we left Theresa and Ellen and head back across the bridge and this time, we go down the path back into the park.

“Fudge now or later? Because I definitely want some.” Cassie says.

“Later so we don’t have to carry it around and it doesn’t melt,” Amy says.

“Solid plan. But I want candied pecans now then!”

We walk around the end of a building that has peanuts being roasted through a giant window and then we reach a stand that’s selling ‘Bavarian Nuts’ which is apparently what Cassie was talking about because she gets in line. “What are these?” I ask.

“You don’t have Bavarian roasted nuts in Texas?” Mia says and I shake my head. “They’re coated in sugar and cinnamon and absolutely delicious!” She gets in line behind Cassie. “Let me buy yours to repay you for the coffee earlier,” I hear her say and Cassie agrees as they approach the counter to order. Mia lets me try one of her cashews and Cassie gives me a handful of pecans, too, and they are actually delicious.

“Mini golf?” Amy asks.

“Can we do Flying Turns first?” Mindy says.

We all shrug, me because I have no idea what’s happening and everyone else because apparently, they agree with Mindy. We head up the path to the left and Ellen finds a bench again. Her sister waits with her this time. While we’re in line almost everyone says they’re going to sit by themselves except the couples (Mitch and Ally; Emilee and Cory), so I ask Felix why and he explains that you don’t sit next to each other, you sit basically in each other’s lap on this so it’s a little weird. When we’re getting to the platform, Mia nudges my arm. “Will you sit with me?”

“Uh,” I say and I think about it for a second, “I mean, yeah, sure, I guess.”

She smiles a little and thanks me. “This one sort of freaks me out a little,” she says. “I don’t like going alone.”

When we start boarding, I see Cassie on the platform chuckling under her breath as she watches Mia sit between my knees and I shoot her a look. She just smiles and waves at me before nudging Felix and nodding toward us. He looks and gives me a thumbs up to which I roll my eyes before the ride starts.

It’s definitely an experience, that’s for sure. I’ve never been on anything remotely close to this. Most of the ride you’re just free falling. It’s kind of like what I imagine a bobsled is like and there’s a lot of twists and turns. When we get off the ride, Mia once again buys a copy of the picture and this time no one even bothers saying anything.

“NORTH POLE!” Felix shouts and then he’s running around the corner and everyone sort of laughs and follows him. I see what he’s talking about as soon as we’re around the end of the ride. There’s a metal pole with ice frozen around it and honestly the whole thing seems really unhygienic, but whatever, I guess.

“So, are we doing the Phoenix or Mini Golf next?” Jen asks after everyone has touched the ice because apparently, that’s what you’re supposed to do?

“Mini golf!” Amy decides when no one seems to want to make a decision.

“You pay for this with real money, not tickets, by the way,” Felix says as we start walking. They have a maximum of six players per group so we end up playing in the groups we drove here in even though I don’t think that was the intent. It’s actually a pretty nice mini golf course, even if our entire group is kind of shit at it.

After mini golf we actually go to The Phoenix which I keep hearing so much about. It’s another wooden coaster and the line takes about half-an-hour. I end up sitting with Mia again. I swear I spend more of the ride out of my seat than in it, but it’s actually incredible; I guess, I understand why Cassie and Felix were so hyped.

“And rides like that are why I hate having big boobs,” Jen groans as we walk down the exit ramp. My eyes go wide while Cassie laughs.

“Girl, same,” she says. “Doesn’t mean it’s not still my favorite ride though!”

“Okay, I’m hungry,” I say as we all gather our things from the bench where Ellen had waited; no one was willing to sit that one out with her.

“Food court?” Emilee says and a few people nod. We head to the left and in front of a log flume. There’s a large food court in the back corner of the park that has four different places to order from, each with an international theme. It takes a while for everyone to decide what they want and then the lines and waiting for food, but eventually we’re all crowded into a line of picnic tables eating. It’s almost four o'clock by the time we finish.

“So, we have two hours until bargain night,” Cassie says. “Does anyone wanna bother with the museum or bald eagles?” Everyone sort of shrugs and I stare at her.

“What?”

“Coal mining museum and Knoebel’s history museum and there’s a bald eagle habitat back there,” she says, pointing. “Does anyone wanna go?” There’s not an answer. “Okay, let’s haunted house first, then.”

We walk down the opposite path from the food court past a shooting gallery and a laser tag arena and then we get in line for the haunted house. It costs three dollars in tickets which leaves me with only one fifty-cent ticket. When we get in line we sort of divide into pairs and of course, I’m sitting with Mia again because I swear this entire group is conspiring to force us together. Felix sits with Theresa and even Ellen rides this one, sitting with her sister. When we get to the front of the line, the operator takes our tickets and stops the car with his foot. I let Mia get in first and then sit next to her.

It’s not really scary per say, but there’s some startling elements and there’s this completely pitch-black incline with strings hanging from the ceiling that sends a shiver down my spine. At one point Mia grabs my arm after a truck horn honks and bright lights shine in our face and she doesn’t let go until we’re coming out of the building. Neither of us say anything about this. Once everyone is done, it’s decided that we’re getting ice cream next. And the ice cream is actually amazing. While we eat it, we walk across a bridge toward the carousel.

“If my calculations are correct,” Cassie says, “we should have like thirty-two dollars in tickets left which means we could all go on the carousel and then have only four dollars between all of us, but we really should give Ellen a dollar each at least because most of those are hers!”

Ellen laughs. “Don’t worry about it. Let’s go to the carousel.”

We walk around to the opposite side of the carousel, near a small circular pavilion with a birthday cake on top? I’m a little confused, honestly. We’re at the entrances, but no one gets in line. “Why are we not in line?” I ask Felix.

“Because you have to be at the front of the line, so we’ll let these people go on the next ride and then take the one after that.”

“Why?”

“Because you need to get an outside horse!”

“Why?”

“Are you a two-year-old?” he asks with a chuckle.

“Sorry, I just don’t understand.”

He laughs. “It’s cool, dude, uh, you have to catch rings as you go around,” he says and then he points to where a metal arm is extended toward the spinning ride and people are catching rings around their index fingers which honestly looks a little dangerous. “There’s one that's brass and if you catch that one, you get two dollars in tickets which amounts to a free ride and they announce your name and where you’re from.” And like clockwork, as soon as he finishes telling me this, there’s an announcement of someone winning ‘a free ride here on the Grand Carousel’. Then a few seconds later a dinging bell and the metal arm retracts as there’s an announcement telling everyone that they need to throw their rings into ‘the lion’s mouth’.

We wait for the ride to stop and then for the next round to start before we actually scramble into the two entrance lines. And after another full cycle, we finally get on and I end up on a light brown horse behind Felix and in front of Mia. Cassie complains that I stole her favorite horse as she runs by to get the horse behind Mia’s. Amy ends up catching the brass ring which is fun and then we make our way toward the handstamp booth for Bargain Night which I ask Cassie to explain as we walk across a covered bridge. “So, it’s twelve bucks. They’ll stamp your hand and then you can ride anything you want as much as you want until they close. Except the coasters, the skyway, and the haunted house which is why we already road all those.”

We all get into line and eventually as six o’clock approaches, the lines start to move and we get our hands stamped and set off again. Someone decides that we're going to the log flume first ‘before it gets cold’. Ellen goes to a bench on the observation deck with our loose articles and the rest of us get into the line.

It only takes about ten minutes to get to the boarding platform and I’ve been grouped with Mia and Felix. Felix volunteers to take the front which leaves Mia and me in the back. I get in and then Mia sits between my knees. As we start up the first incline, Mia grabs the handrails and tries to hold herself forward. I sort of laugh at her. “You really don’t have to do that,” I say.

“Oh,” she says and she kind of turns her head to smile at me for a second. I swear I hear Felix suppress a laugh as Mia gently falls backwards against my chest. It’s actually a pretty good log flume to be fair and Felix is only a little chaotic which his attempts to rock the boat as we go around the turns. We wave to Ellen when we pass the observation deck and she waves back and then we go up the big hill and this time, Mia just comfortably rests back against me from the start.

When we’re going down the big hill there’s a camera flash and our picture is taken before we cruise back into the station. Mia, of course, runs right to the picture stand and buys a copy as soon as we’re out of the exit and then we walk toward the observation deck to meet up with everyone else and get our stuff back from Ellen.

After the flume, we ride the antique cars which even Ellen goes on and then there this huge spinning, swinging wheel of doom called the “Fandango” and a giant free fall tower called the “StraosFear”. Then we walk around and ride the “Looper” which is right next to Flying Turns; it’s this metal contraption that you sit in with someone else and then it rolls as the the whole ride spins. I’m pretty sure it exists exclusively to make everyone dizzy and make those with weak stomachs vomit. Then there’s the “Cosmotron” which is inside a building. And you sit in seats of two or three and the ride goes in a circle and there’s loud music and flashing lights and then it goes backwards for a while, too.

We hit all the classics, too; the carousel again, the bumper cars, chair swings, the whipper, and a pirate ship. Then there’s a ride called "Power Surge" that’s rotates in far too many directions but is actually pretty fun. There’s a train ride through the woods where we see a bunch of squirrels and by the time we get off the train, it’s almost nine o’clock so we speed through the last couple rides. “Downdraft” spins way too fast to be safe. And we finish the night by riding the ferris wheel. The views from the top are amazing, everything is lit up around the park. I end up sitting next to Mia and across from Felix. Mia asks him to take a picture of us at one point and hands him her phone. She scoots closer to me and I put my arm around her shoulders as she leans her head against me. Felix gets this giddy smile on his face and I resist the urge to roll my eyes as he takes the picture. He hands Mia’s phone back and she smiles at the resulting picture before showing me and then she takes a selfie just to be sure and I have to laugh. “Is it okay if I put those on Instagram?” she asks as we’re getting off the ride a few minutes later.

“Yeah, of course,” I say and she smiles at me as we go to wait for the others. Once we’ve all reassembled, we head for the cars. I get Mia’s door for her before walking around to get in behind Felix.

“So, this seems to have panned out well,” he says before either of us open our doors and this time I _do_ roll my eyes at him.

“Whatever you say.”

Cassie pulls out of the spot and follows traffic toward the exit which is onto a weird back road rather than the main one so it’s a couple lefts until we’re heading back toward town. Felix gets a text form Ally that their car wants to stop at Sheetz again to get drinks and food for the drive home and Cassie agrees so Felix texts Mindy, too, and we all pull into the parking lot again. Sheetz has those touchscreen ordering kiosks and I just order a sandwich. I also grab a bottle of Coke because I’m already half asleep after this day and we have a nearly two-hour drive home.

Only about fifteen minutes into the the drive, Mia yawns. When I look at her, she kind of bites her lip a little and smiles at me. I smile back. She sort of shifts a little in the seat toward me and leans her head. “Um, is it okay if I…?”

I laugh a little and nod. “Yeah.” She rests her head against my left shoulder and I’m pretty sure she falls asleep about 5 minutes later. I spend most of the rest of the drive staring out the window because Felix falls asleep, too and I don’t know Cassie well enough to actually have a conversation.

I’m kind of shocked that I don’t fall asleep, too, but just before midnight, Cassie parks on my street. As soon as she’s parked, she reaches over and shakes Felix violently by the shoulder. “Wake up, sleepyhead, you’re home!”

He groans and flails an arm toward her and I laugh as I shrug a little and try to wake Mia more gently. “Hey, um…. Mia?” Her eyes flicker open. “We’re home, or well I am, so you’re gonna need to sit up.”

“Oh, sorry,” she says sleepily and then she sits back up and looks around as I take off my seatbelt and get out of the car.

I sort of laugh as I watch Felix stumble toward his building. “Be careful, man, don’t hurt yourself.”

“I’m good,” he says and I swear he’s still half asleep, which I don’t know how that’s possible with how violently Cassie was shaking him a minute ago.

I shake my head and walk into my building and up the stairs. My dad is waiting for me in the living room and says my mom’s already in bed and he was told to make sure I actually got home by curfew. I look at the clock on the wall and it’s five after. “Uh, I’m sorry. There was a lot of traffic coming out of the park…”

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it,” he says but he gets up and walks over to me. “How’d it go with Mia? That girl, Mia, how’d it go?” He whispers as we get to my bedroom door.

I resist the urge to sigh and roll my eyes. I nod a little instead. “Good, I think.”

He looks happy. “That’s great! That’s fantastic!”

He starts to walk toward his room, but I turn around in the doorway of mine. “Uh, hey, Pap? How did you know that Mom was the one for you?”

“Oh,” and I think he’s getting the wrong idea and maybe that’s why I asked, but he walks back toward me and continues. “Uh, well, uh, we both had these, uh, after school jobs at this crappy diner. Oh, she was a terrible waitress, your mom. Like, if you’d ask her for a coke, she’d bring you an iced tea; if you asked her for an iced tea, she brought you a hot tea. But nobody cared though, you see, because she was that charming; she was _that_ beautiful. So, I asked her out. I mean at that point, I was mostly thinkin’ about how I was gonna, you know.”

“Dad, I don’t,” I say uncomfortably. “Come on.”

“So, we went out for pizza and she started talkin’ about her grandfather; how he had just died a few months ago; about how close they were. While she’s tellin’ me this, she starts to cry. And the next thing I know, I start to cry, too; _me._ Here I am, one minute I’m just tryin’ to hook up and the next minute I’m cryin’ about some dead old man I never even met. I never felt so connected to anyone; never. And that’s when I knew, or whatever,” he says and we both kind of laugh.

“Thanks,” I say and then I walk into my room and close the door as he continues down the hall toward his. I sit down on my bed without changing and sigh. After spending the whole day with Mia, I think I may actually like her. She’s funny and kind and she gets me and I don’t know maybe this might actually work.


	22. Part 6E - Stands Music Night (7/16)

Felix and I spend the better part of the next three days mowing lawns aside from when I got to church with my family on Sunday. On Tuesday, it thunderstorms again and Mr. Fairchild posts to the Facebook group that we’ll be working on stands tunes. The BPA also decides that due to the rain, they’re going to meet at 6 tonight and we might get out of rehearsal a little early. All this said, my mom drives us to the school. When we get there, everything is a little chaotic. Half of the staff is in the lobby trying to direct everyone.

“Color guard to the gym for indoor practice. BPA meeting is being held in the cafeteria tonight because we need the band room. Winds and Percussion to the said band room for now and we’ll migrate to the gym and join the color guard later so they can get some practice with their stands routines, too,” Miranda says when we stop in front of her.

“Thanks,” I say and she nods before we move past and then she says the same thing to whoever walks in behind us.

“Where’s the cafeteria?” my mom says.

Pilar rolls her eyes, but says, “I’ll show you. It’s on the way to the gym.”

We part ways in front of the art rooms as Felix and I both head to the drum closet. “Hey,” Chris says. “Victor, grab your drum and stand; you don’t need your harness. Felix, take a set of cymbals down, please!” He hands Felix the cymbals while I pick up my stuff. “Benji and Linsey are down there with the flip folders. And just a heads up, we’re going to stay after the winds get to leave early, so we can work on drum break stands stuff with Ivan and Mr. Garrett.”

When we get to the band room, Benji and Linsey are standing in the back amongst the percussion equipment, which they’ve pushed into a jumbled mess against the back wall. They’re going through a small clear plastic tub full of flip folders as promised. Val and Cassie both have clarinets and are sitting with the winds. Just before six, Mr. Fairchild walks out of his office and holds his hand up for silence. “Good evening, I see you all go the memo that we’re working on stands music tonight! Section leaders have the boxes of flip files if you need one; freshman and newbies take one; everyone else, if you’re comfortable with stands tunes don’t worry about. Robert’s going to explain the procedure for calling tunes in the stands, voicing requests, etc. and then we’ll dig in on the practice!”

Benji hands me a flip file and I put it on the stand in front of me. “Also, you don’t have to play snare in the stands if you don’t want to,” he whispers while there’s a shuffle of the winds getting their flip files, too.

I shrug. “Those are gonna be the parts I know though.”

“I figured, but I also wanted to make sure you knew you had options.”

“Thanks,” I say and I smile at him and he smiles back. Then I look up and see Robert behind the podium with a hand up for silence. Mia is looking at me from where she’s sitting next to Lake in the flute section and she smiles when our eyes meet and I smile at her, too.

“Alright, rookies listen up and the rest of you if you need a refresher. I’m gonna be on the podium in the stands this season ‘cause Chelsey would rather play. When we pick a tune, I’m going to hold up this white board with the tune written on it, or I’ll just shout at you.” Everyone chuckles. “If you have a request come down and tell me, yell it at me, or play a game of telephone and have the percussion do it for you.” Everyone laughs again. “If you have my number, text it to me even! Whatever, however, we’ll figure it out.” Another round of laughter from everyone except the directors who are both staring at Robert incredulously. Mr. Fairchild clears his throat. “That last one was a joke. No phones in the stands except during third quarter.” He looks at Mr. Fairchild. “Do you want me to go over general football game procedures, or should we just dive in?”

“We can dive in on the music now. Play through the national anthem and the fight song a couple times each and then the rest of ‘em as you please. We’ll go over football game etiquette and procedures during our extended practice the day of the first game.”

“You got it,” Robert says and then he turns back to the rest of us. “Alright, national anthem if you would, please. Do I have Benji and Victor on snares, or?”

“Yeah,” Benji says.

“Good, good. And do we have people with cymbals that know what they’re doing?”

“Uh, I mean, I did this last year,” Felix says.

“Good enough. Let’s try this please.” He raises his hands to conduct and the winds all bring their instruments up. He cues Benji and I to start the drumroll and then conducts the winds in. It’s actually almost clean on the first try, but we do it again to prove it wasn’t a fluke and then Mr. Fairchild approves moving on to the fight song.

“Um, let’s play the version for when they run out onto the field first?” Robert asks and everyone shrugs. “For the rookies, that’s just once straight through with the coda ending.”

“Um, which one is the fight song?” I ask Benji.

He chuckles a little. “Our Director. I think I gave you the one that has all the markings on it.” I find the music.

“Half of it’s crossed out?”

“Yep. We only use the trio.”

Robert already has his hands up, so I try to scan the piece quickly before we start. This one is a little sloppy on our first attempt so we do that version a few more times until it sounds better. “Okay. They just scored a touchdown!” He says and puts his hands up again.

“What?” I say.

“Oh, right, uh, beginning to the D.S. and stop to wait for the extra point,” Robert says and then we play it. “And… they missed the extra point, so just the coda!” We play it. “And they scored another touchdown!”

“Who are we playing? CV?” someone says and everyone else laughs, but I have no idea why that’s funny, so I sort of raise my eyebrows at Benji.

“We suck at Football. CV is the only ones that suck almost as much and sometimes we actually manage to beat them!” he says and I nod.

“Oh just shush and play it,” Robert says once everyone stops laughing. We do. “And they got this extra point! What a day! Take the DS with the coda ending!” We play that, too, and then Mr. Fairchild nods and walks toward Robert.

“That sounded good, guys. Um, I guess we’ll play through some of the old favorites now. And please, Trumpets, reign it in on these. No fracking in the band room!” The trumpets all look at Joel and the entire band laughs. “Yes, Joel, I’m talking to you and I’m most specifically talking about cheer three. Do _not_ play it three octaves higher than it needs to be in here. I don’t care what you do in the stadium, but here, we’re not doing that; you’ll make the whole band go deaf.” Everyone laughs again.

“Okay, with that in mind,” Robert says. “Let’s start nice and easy with the standard ‘Hey Song’ and then well go extreme.”

“Extreme?” I ask, glancing at Benji.

He chuckles. “You’ll see.”

I flip to the “Hey Song” even though we played this one back in Graham so I already know the part. Robert conducts us and it’s basically perfect on the first go. The only part that throws me off is when we get to the actually “Hey” part they do some weird cheer.

“You have to teach me y’all’s version of the cheer part at some point,” I tell Benji when we finish.

“It’s just ‘Hey! Go Mounts!’ and then the ‘Hey! Huh!’ part is just ‘Go Mounts Go! Go Mounts Go!’ in between. I mean the cheerleaders’ll do the heavy lifting at the actual games.”

“Mounts…”

“Mountaineers, but Mounts is less of a mouthful.”

“Right, Felix mentioned that.”

“Okay, okay. The other band just played the ‘Hey Song’, too, whatever shall we do?” Robert says with feigned concerned and everyone laughs. “Oh right, we’ll do it better! And more _extreme_! Watch me. We’re going to go _hard_ on this. Like last round of the fight, hard, because I don’t want to just play this all night.” Everyone nods in agreement and I’m confused.

“What’s happening?”

“Watch Robert. We do some whacky tempo stuff to prove we’re better than the other band. It’s sort of a tradition,” he whispers quickly before Robert starts conducting so slowly, I’m not sure he’s actually moving, but everyone starts playing… at the tempo of a snail and then suddenly when we get to the good part and he accelerandos off the deep end and I think we might be playing at 300 clicks by the time we finish.

“What _the hell_ was that?” I say when Robert cuts off.

“’Hey Song’ Extreme,” Benji says and shrugs a little like that was nothing. “Just wait until it happens in context.” I raise an eyebrow at him. “I promise it’ll all make sense when were up at The War and the other band whips out the ‘Hey Song’, too.”

“The War?”

“Our stadium. War Memorial Field. The War.”

“Right,” I say and I’m not sure I’m ever going to get used to all the weird quirks of this place or even this band.

“Any requests for what we do next?” Robert asks.

“Cheer three?” Joel says with mock innocence.

Robert gives him a look. “Only if you promise not to bust my ear drums on the solo.”

Joel gives him a thumbs up and Robert nods. “Alright, let’s actually just run down the whole list of cheers while we’re at it.”

“What does that mean?” I say, looking at Benji.

“PSU Cheers,” he says.

“PSU as in Penn State?” I ask.

“Yep.”

I flip through until I find the page. “Oh, these are really short.”

“Yeah. We play them like between downs and stuff. We don’t actually play them that often… other than cheer three, of course,” he says and he rolls his eyes. I raise an eyebrow. “Just wait. Joel can’t resist. You may be deaf in a few minutes.”

We play through the first and second cheer with ease and then Robert gives Joel a pointed look. “Do _not_ make us deaf.” Joel gives him a thumbs up again and Robert sighs. “Alright, cheer three guys.” The clarinets sitting directly in front of Joel all shift to their right and the rest of the trumpets laugh. Then we play it and yeah, I definitely see what everyone’s talking about. My ears are ringing when Robert cuts us off, but apparently that was actually impressive control for Joel from what people are saying, because they’re _thanking him_. We do the last two cheers (four and five) before Robert asks for another request.

“NFL on Fox?” someone asks.

“Yeah, alright, get it up.” We play that and then there’s about a billion more tunes with a few water break interludes.

“Okay, okay, that’s good,” Mr. Fairchild says at about 7:30. “Let’s head up to the gym now and do a few with the guard before we head out. Don’t forget: percussion, you’re to come back down here when I dismiss you to meet with Ivan and Mr. Garrett to go over your percussion only stuff for the stands.”

We go up to the gym and set up in the bleachers. We do a few of the songs again including the fight song in its various forms, the hey song in both iterations and a few others that the guard apparently, has dances for though I can’t see any of them because they sit at the back of the band. “Alright, we’re done. Don’t say I’m not a nice director,” Mr. Fairchild says as Robert cuts off a final tune. “Thursday is going to be a parade tune rehearsal, so plan accordingly with instruments, attire and flip files with lyres and the like. Percussion to the band room. Guard, stay here. Everyone else, go home.”

As we’re walking back to the band room, Cassie turns around to walk backwards in front of everyone else. “So, I was thinking,” she says, “It’s supposed to be really nice all next week. Why don’t we do another percussion bonding activity on Wednesday?”

“What are you thinking?” Chris asks.

“Hersheypark?”

There’re a few murmurs of agreement. “Some of us don’t have real jobs and were just at Knoebel’s on Friday which was also _your idea_ ,” Felix says.

“I’ll get everyone’s tickets from triple A, just bring me the $35 on Thursday so I can go this weekend,” Cassie says.

“Oh, in that case,” Felix says with a shrug.

“I have to work, but you guys have fun,” Savannah says as we’re walking past the drum closet.

“And you _know_ my mom’s not letting me go that far with a teen driver; not even you,” Byron says and Cassie nods.

“I’m sorry, man.”

He shrugs. “It’s cool. I think our parents are taking us the week after band camp anyway.”

“Well then. The rest of you? Hersheypark a week from tomorrow?” Everyone seems to agree as we finally enter the band room again. Then she seems to realize Val isn’t with us. “Chris, tell Val.”

“I’ll text her when we’re done,” he says.

“Alright, well, since I don’t hit things in the bleachers, I’m out. See you guys Thursday to once again not hit things apparently,” she says with a chuckle as she picks up a clarinet case from one of the cubbies in the room and walks out.

“What was that about?” Ivan asks, walking out of Mr. Fairchild’s office.

“We’re apparently all going to Hersheypark next Wednesday for another percussion bonding activity,” Chris says with a laugh.

“Oooh! That’s a good pre-band camp activity,” Ivan says and then we dive into rehearsal. We do actually get done fifteen minutes early still which is nice, but my mom and sister have already left and texted me that since it’s not raining, Felix and I can walk home. I relay this message to him and he groans as we walk toward the lobby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Song Extreme is definitely a thing my band actually did and Hey Song battles in general were common at nearly every football game. We definitely didn't actually do this many bonding activities or group outings, though, but I needed PLOT!


	23. Part 6F - Another Full Rehearsal (7/18)

All day on Wednesday and the morning of Thursday, Felix and I are back at it, mowing more lawns. We’re starting to hit the first ones a second time now and we’re really getting into a groove with it.

On Thursday night when we get to the school for practice, Cassie is standing outside the auditorium doors with her clarinet case over her shoulder. She holds a hand out, palm up to us when we walk up to her. “What?” Felix says.

“Thirty-five bucks for your Hersheypark tickets. I’m going to get them tomorrow on my way to my grandparents’ and I’ll bring them to rehearsal on Tuesday,” she says.

“Oh, right.” Felix pulls out his wallet and I do, too. We each hand her thirty-five dollars and she pockets the money. “Where are we meeting, do you know?”

“You guys at the closet I’d think. It’s parade night, so I’m not even bothering going inside. Just gotta put this together and block up after people drop off their cases or whatever,” she says, tapping her clarinet case, and then we walk into the school.

When we get to the closet, Chris and Benji are already there. Chris hands Felix a set of cymbals without even saying anything. “Who said I wanted to play cymbals this year?” Felix says with mock indignantly.

“Do you not?”

Felix laughs a little and shrugs. “Nah, it’s cool.”

“Good. I’m going to have Ryan and Shane do them, too along with you and Ally.”

“What does the rest of the pit do?” I ask as I put my harness on and pick up my drum.

“Linsey and Val’ll carry the banner,” Benji says.

“Val doesn’t play clarinet?”

He laughs. “Nope. Cassie’s the only one crazy enough to volunteer to play in the parade. It’s like two and a half miles. It’s exhausting enough just walking it.”

“Wait. Seriously?”

“Oh yeah. We have to go the whole way up the mountain on Locust Street behind the movie theatre and everything. It’s a trip. Luckily we have the day after off school and no rehearsal to recover.”

“Oh, we didn’t really do parades back in Texas,” I say.

“Well, you’re in for it. We only do the one since Denver cancelled there’s a couple years ago, but it’s a killer. I mean there’s Jack Frost, but that barely counts.”

“Jack Frost?”

“Yeah. We don’t even have to wear uniforms. It’s the Halloween parade, so we can go in costume and we play shitty kids’ songs for a like 20 minutes while the kids parade around in their costumes. It’s honestly a waste of a good Wednesday night. But I think that’ll be the night before Rookie Initiation this year, so that’ll be a nice redemption for the week.”

“Wait, what?”

He laughs. “Oh, you’ll see. Don’t worry about it… yet.”

“I really do _not_ like the sound of that.”

“We’re not going to, like, hurt you or anything. I promise. We may laugh at you, though.”

“Still doesn’t sound great.”

He laughs again. “You have three months until you really have to worry about it.”

“So, I _do_ have to worry about it when it happens, though?”

“Only a little,” he says and then he claps my shoulder. “Let’s go outside, shall we?”

I finally look up and realize the closet door is already closed and the final stragglers from the rest of the band are walking around the corner. I guess I might have been a little distracted, talking to Benji and worrying about whatever the hell their rookie initiation traditions might be. We hurry toward the lobby. Everyone is just standing in a huge mass right outside the doors.

“Chris, did you assign people to play cymbals?” Mr. Garrett asks as he walks over.

“Ally and Felix again, and then Shane and Ryan.”

“Perfect,” he says with a nod and then walks back toward where Mr. Fairchild, Don, and a few others are talking.

Finally, after a few minutes of indistinct chatter, Mr. Fairchild raises a hand for silence. “We’re basically just going to do a loop of the parking lot to practice tonight. I trust you all have the parade tune memorized or in a flip file on a lyre ready to go. This is more about the actual marching and staying in the block than the music right now. I’m going to have Don step this off and get us set up. This is going to be the actual block for parade night, so try to remember where you are.” He gestures for Don to start announcing.

“Pit that aren’t playing, please,” he calls first. Linsey, Val, Christina, and Byron walk toward him and he sets them up. They don’t actually have their stuff tonight, but they’re pretending pretty well.

“Color Guard!” he calls next and the swarm of guard girls walk toward him. They’re organized into two lines, lead by Mindy and Krista. It looks like they must be going in age order because Clare and Pilar are toward the back with my sister right behind Clare.

“Robert and Chelsey,” Don says and puts them into position. “Been working on that back-stepping, right?” he asks them with a laugh and they both nod. “Good.”

“Piccolos,” he calls and three girls I don’t recognize walk over to him. “First flutes!” Five more girls walk over including Ellen and Theresa with an h. Ellen and Theresa get set on the outside of the piccolos and then the other three are directly behind said piccolos. “Second flutes!” Seven more girls walk over including Mia and Lake. Mia and Lake are set at opposite ends of the third row and the other five girls fill in the remain spots until we have three solid rows of flutes and piccs.

“First clarinets!” and then “Second clarinets!” and finally, “Third clarinets!” which includes Cassie are set into three consecutive rows of five.

“First altos!” are next and include Emilee and Cory next to each other on one end and three other people I don’t know. “Second altos!” are after them and include Mallory from church on one end and her friend Kristin on the opposite end. “Tenor Saxes!” are the final row of woodwinds. They include Erika and Pat from church next to each other on one end and three other people I don’t recognize.

“Okay, drumline, all of you come over here please,” Don says and we do. He sets up the cymbal players with a gap in the middle. Felix and Ally are on the outsides with Ryan next to Felix and Shane next to Ally. “Benji and Victor,” he says and motions for us. Benji is behind Felix and I’m behind Ryan. “Chris and Andrew,” he says and motions for them. Chris is behind Ally and Andrew is behind Shane. “Then basses in order, Savannah behind Benji and Kieran behind Chris,” he instructs and then he steps them off to make sure the spacing is right.

I don’t actually watch as he calls the brass into their spots. First, second, and third trumpets. First and second mellos. First, second, and third low brass. And then the tubas.

“Okay, now that we’re set up, let’s get started,” Mr. Fairchild says once Don finishes. “I’m going to walk up here with Linsey and Val and guide our first circuit of the parking lots. Robert will be calling everything. Demonstrate the roll off call, please,” he says and Robert raises a hand into the air and circles it above his head a few times. “When Robert does that, Benji is going to do a roll off a few beats later and when he starts the roll off, instruments snap up for the winds and following the roll off we start the parade tune. We’re going to take all repeats, all endings. Drag that thing out as long as it’ll go because this a long parade, folks. Guard, I know you’ve been working on the parade routine a little in rehearsals, so let’s see what you’ve got, but don’t let the routine stand in the way of keeping the formation, and staying in step, etc.” He pauses and walks toward us. “Chris, you have a gock on there?”

“I do,” Chris says.

Mr. Fairchild nods. “Robert’s going to call the commands to start us off and then Chris'll gock a few measures before the drumline starts the cadence. They’ll play through it once before Robert calls for a roll off and we jump in on the parade tune. After that we’ll just go through the actual parade routine and make a few loops of the parking lots.” He walks back to the front of the blocking. “Robert, if you would, please.”

Robert claps loudly. “BAND TEN HUT!” He continues clapping. “MARK TIME MARK!” and then he points to Chris who starts gocking so Robert can stop clapping. “FORWARD HUT!” And then we’re moving. Chris nods to Benji a few steps in and he taps off the start of the cadence before we all start playing. I see Mr. Fairchild stop walking and then step in next to Robert and say something I can’t hear just as we’re finishing the cadence. Chris goes back to gocking as we keep moving, but Robert calls out. “BAND READY HALT!” and we suddenly stop. Just as Linsey and Val are about to round the corner near the truck into the gym parking lot.

“Sorry, guys, I guess I should have mentioned this earlier, but no visuals tonight! At least not yet. Wait until we have sectionals later and make sure your whole section is up to speed before we start that. I don’t want anyone getting hurt. Also, remember you should be at a trail with your instruments when the cadence is happening, but as soon as Benji starts the roll off you snap up to attention and then snap to playing a beat before the tune starts, okay?” There’s a murmur and some nods of agreement as he walks back to Robert and says something else I can’t hear before continuing back to the front.

Robert starts clapping again. “BAND TEN HUT!” Everyone snaps to attention. “DRESS RIGHT DRESS!” I’m startled for a second, but everyone’s heads snap to the right and there’s some shuffling as we get the block realigned. More clapping. “DRESS FRONT DRESS!” Our heads snap forward and we shuffle again. More clapping and then finally, “MARK TIME MARK!” followed by a point to Chris who starts gocking. “FORWARD HUT!” And then we start moving, but Robert says, “Winds, when I call that in the parade, that’s when you should drop to a trail as we step off. Just to keep it unified across the band.” There’s some murmurs and nods of agreement from the wind section as all the instruments fall to a trail. Benji taps us in for a round of a cadence a second later and we make a full loop of the gym parking lot. As the color guard is passing the truck in the opposite direction, Robert raises his arm and signals for the roll off.

The parade tune, Sousa’s _Liberty Bell March_ is a little sloppy, but doesn’t fall apart, so I guess it’s something. The loop continues on the stadium side of the main parking lot and then up into the stadium lot and a loop of that before we come back down and pass the auditorium entrance again. The second time we get back to the auditorium, Mr. Fairchild drops back to Robert and whispers something again. “BAND READY HALT!” he calls as soon as the cadence ends and we do.

“Grab a water break while we’re here,” Mr. Fairchild says, “and then I want to see if you can set up this block without Don stepping the whole thing off.”

I start to walk toward the school, but Benji grabs my arm before I can take more than one step. “Leave your drum here. Makes it easier to set back up.” He releases my arm and it feels like I’m on fire. He takes off his harness without removing the drum and sets it on the ground at his feet. I do the same. He smiles at me a little and I smile back and then we both head toward the school.

Everyone sort of left their water jugs in this hot mess of a pile under the overhang tonight, so it takes a minute to find mine. When I stand up to actually take a drink, Cassie has walked over, too. “Okay, I think I have everyone that’s coming’s money, right?” she says.

“It’s only Savannah and Byron that aren’t coming right?” Chris asks.

“I think so,” Cassie says. “We should figure out rides. I mean we don’t _have_ to until Tuesday, but still.”

“During sectionals maybe?”

“But I think we're doing pit and line separate tonight.”

“Right, um, okay. Well I’ll drive and I think Val volunteered to drive, too.”

“What did I do?” Val says, joining us.

“Volunteered to drive for Hersheypark,” Chris says, taking her hand.

“Oh, yeah, I did.”

“And I’m sure Mitch’ll drive,” Cassie says. “And that’s perfect. Four to a car.” Everyone sort of nods.

“My mom’s going to be weird about it again, but I’ve already ridden with you, so I should probably just do that again,” I say.

“Yeah,” Cassie says. “That’s fine. You and Felix can ride with me. Ally’s clearly riding with Mitch. Linsey’ll probably want to go with Val…”

Chris looks like he’s about to say something he doesn’t actually want to. “Why don’t I take Andrew, Teddy, and Kieran?”

“That works,” Cassie agrees. “Who does that leave?”

“Benji,” Chris says.

Benji’s head pops up next to me. “What?”

Chris laughs. “We’re talking about rides for Hershey.”

“Oh,” he says. “Who am I stuck with?”

There’s more laughs. “Yet to be determined,” Cassie says. “Christina, Shane, Ryan, and Sue,” she finishes Chris’s list.

“We’ll take the freshmen,” Ally says, nudging Mitch.

“Perfect, so Shane and Ryan will ride with Mitch and Ally,” Cassie says. “Christina and Sue with Val and I’ll take Benji?”

Everyone sort of nods and shrugs and I guess that’s happening. I’m apparently going to be in a car with Benji on Wednesday. I just hope my face isn’t giving away how much that’s freaking me out.

“Benji, do you not have a license? Isn’t your birthday in like November?” Cassie says.

“Uh, no. I… I failed the test.”

Cassie laughs. “I did that, too. Go to Lebanon, I swear the course is easier.”

“Or so I’ve heard,” Benji says.

“What are you talking about?” I say awkwardly.

“When do you turn sixteen? We’ll have to impart all of our PennDOT wisdom on you,” Cassie says with a chuckle.

“Uh, next month. The thirty-first.”

“Woop. Plan to go get your permit day of?” she asks.

“What?”

“Your permit. Are you going to go get it on your birthday?”

“Oh, I mean. I don’t even know what that entails? I was all prepared to do this in Texas, but…”

She laughs. “Oh! Uh, you have to go to a license center and take the written, or well computer test and have your eyes checked and turn in your physical form and whatever,” she says. “That, it’s safe to go to Lancaster for, but six months later when you can take the road test and get your actual license, go to Lebanon. The course is a billion times easier and the parallel spot doesn’t suck ass like the one in Lancaster.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I say and then I realize everyone is already starting to block back up, so I nod and we all drop our water jugs again and jog back out into the parking lot. We start up again and this time we do four loops of the lots and by the end, we actually sound half-decent on the march. Robert calls us to a halt outside the auditorium again.

“Grab your water and head to sectionals. Stay over here please; no need to cross the road. Use this time to work on the parade tune if you need it or jump in on the opener or even the ballad. Tuesday night we are going to do our first full ensemble play through of the ballad, so it’s something to think about. Pit, you can go pull your stuff off the truck and head to the gym overhang at this point.”

“Take the cymbals to the closet first!” Chris shouts as everyone starts moving. It’s only then that I realize we have no percussion techs tonight and Rich isn’t even here. “We’re on our own, guys, Garrett told us earlier that he’s going to work with pit because Rich is out. And I guess all of the percussion techs decided to skip practice together or something.” He laughs a little. “Uh, let’s go down in the weird parking lot next to the band room?” We all nod and start walking that direction.

We run through the parade tune once with no repeats before Chris and Benji agree that we’re perfectly fine on that front, so we start working on the ballad instead after we pull a couple music stands out of the band room. There’s actually a chunk at the beginning where we don’t play at all, so we skip that and then there’s this kind of complex drum break that we take some time to work through. The ballad is only seventy-five measures and it’s only at a hundred clicks, so it’s really not that hard to get through. Especially since I’ve been practicing on my own. We take a water break after our first run through and then do it a few more times, stopping to clean some parts up as we go.

“Drumline join us please,” Mr. Fairchild says, poking his head around the corner of the school a while later. I pull out my phone to check the time as we gather our things and put the music stands away. It’s almost eight already and I’m not sure where the past two hours went. I pocket my phone and pick up my water jug as we jog toward the parking lot. We all set our water jugs by the auditorium doors again and then try to figure out what’s happening. “Winds, please set up the arc. I don’t wanna make you walk the whole way over to the field if we don’t have to, so try to figure it out,” Mr. Fairchild announces loudly and then he turns to us. “Set up behind them in the middle, please. We’re just gonna work the opener a little.”

The winds manage to get their shit together enough to set up an arc without yard lines because apparently, that’s ridiculously difficult to do and we set up behind them. We play it the whole way through once and then we go back and clean up bits and pieces for most of the night until we get the infamous, “One more time!” followed by an audible groan by just about everyone and a look from Mr. Fairchild that says, ‘shut it or it’ll be more than that,’ even though we all know it already will be. We play the whole thing through twice as predicted and then he tells us to bring it in for announcements.

“Tuesday we’re going back to a regular show rehearsal. Basics, music sectionals, and working the opener. At the end of the night, we are going to play through the ballad at least once just to see where everyone’s at. Try to have it memorized if at all possible, but it won’t be the end of the world if it’s not. You still have another week until you’ll get to run laps,” he says with a smile and my eyes go wide, but no one else responds. I look at Benji and he chuckles a little, but doesn’t say anything. “Next Thursday is our last rehearsal before camp. My current plan is to do a few laps with the parade tune and then go to sectionals to work on the ballad. We’ll do a full run of the opener and ballad together like this and then go inside and work stands music for a nice break before camp.” He pauses for a moment. “Speaking of camp, the parents will murder me if I forget to remind you about the picnic. The ice breaker picnic will be a week from Sunday at Ephrata Park. We have the pavilion rented per usual and plenty of games and fun stuff planned for the afternoon. However, you all need to sign up to bring something. The sign-up sheets are on the bulletin board above the ammo box already, so feel free to take a look and if you know what your parents wanna bring, sign up. Those whose parents were at the BPA meeting on Tuesday may notice your name already up there. If you don’t know want your parents plan on bringing, check with them this weekend and sign up on Tuesday. The BPA executive committee is going to meet on Wednesday and assign anyone not on the list at random to whatever is left over. Remember the picnic is open to all of you (plus the guard and pit obviously) and your immediate families. I know some alumni'll probably show up, too, and that’s fine but this is primarily an event for this year’s ensemble to get to know each other better and parents to mingle and the like. We’ll go over a breakdown of the camp schedule at the picnic so parents can listen in. If you have any questions, I’ll be around for a little bit tonight or ask any of the staff at rehearsals next week.” He pauses again and then nods. “Okay, you’re dismissed. Have a good weekend.”

There’s a bit of mass chaos as we all try to get our water jugs from the sidewalk. As we’re walking to the drum closet, I ask Benji, “What does he mean run laps?”

Benji chuckles. “Exactly what he said. During camp and the rest of the season it’s not as chill as summer rehearsals. You start talking when you’re not supposed to; get caught doing something you’re not supposed to; don’t have something with you you’re supposed to; don’t have your music memorized when you're supposed to; or anything else, you getta run laps around the practice field until you’ve learned your lesson.”

“Yikes.”

He chuckles again. “Don’t worry. You haven’t done anything that would earn you laps yet, and you seemed to already have the ballad memorized, no?”

“I mean, yeah, but…”

He laughs and claps my shoulder. “You’ll be fine, don’t worry.” He goes to put his drum away and I stay frozen in place for a second because my shoulder is on fire and my head is spinning. I didn’t realize band was going to be that… intense here. When Benji walks out of the closet he raises an eyebrow at me and I finally shake out of my daze and go to put my drum away, too.

By the time I get to the lobby, Felix and Pilar are already waiting for me and Benji is walking toward the truck with Lucy. “Hey, guys, sorry, that was a mess trying to get to the closet.”

“No problem,” Felix says and he throws his arm around my shoulders as we start walking. I roll my eyes and shrug him off. He doesn’t say anything.

“Pilar, do you know if mom already did the picnic thing?”

“Huh?”

“The signing up to bring something for the picnic?”

“Oh. No clue. But she’ll probably make rice, right? That’s kind of her thing.”

“Wait, does she have to make two things because we’re both in band?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” She shrugs a little and we keep walking.

“Felix, what’s your mom bringing?”

“ _I_ ’m bringing brownies. They’re kind of my thing.”

“Is your mom not coming to the picnic?”

“Probably not,” he says and he shrugs.

“Why?”

“My mom doesn’t do band parent events or band things in general.”

“Does she like come to performances?”

He laughs. “She hasn’t been to a band concert since my very first one in fourth grade, so no. I don’t think she’s ever seen me march. Actually that’s a lie, she watches the parade on TV every year, but never in person.”

“Why?” He shrugs again and doesn’t say anything. I can tell he’s uncomfortable. “Well, you can probably ride with us to the park if you want,” I tell him.

“Thanks,” he says and smiles at me as we walk up that god-forsaken hill.

“So, I hear you two are running off to another amusement park without me next week,” Pilar grumbles.

“Hey,” I say and I put my arm around her shoulders. “Don’t be like that, come on. This one is a percussion only thing anyway. And I’m sorry about Friday, okay?” She shrugs and rolls her eyes. I sigh. “Hey, listen. Felix was going to take me to whatever the hell Green Dragon is tomorrow, why don’t you come with us?”

“What _is_ it?” she asks, looking at Felix.

He laughs. “Uh, this huge farmer’s market, flea market combo place right outside town. We’re going for dinner because I need a stuffed pretzel in my life.”

“Stuffed pretzel?” I ask.

“Yes!” he practically shouts. “Just wait, you’ll see. You’re about to experience the real Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine, my friends. Trust me!”

Pilar and I raise our eyebrows at each other, but say nothing.


	24. Part 6G - Green Dragon

On Friday morning, Felix and I set out to mow some more lawns, but it hits ninety before noon and Felix looks like he might die of heat stroke. “I’m going home. I can’t mow in this,” he says when we finish a couple houses.

I laugh. “This is nothing in Texas. You realize that, right?”

“Yeah, well, we’re not in Texas,” he pants and he starts heading toward home.

“Uh, I’m just gonna do another one or two, I think,” I tell him and he looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “Your life,” he says.

I laugh a little. “I’m telling you; this is nothing.”

He just rolls his eyes and keeps walking. “Meet me out front at like four, I guess. Maybe we can find a ride out there though, because walking to Green Dragon in this is not in the cards,” he says.

“Maybe my mom can take us,” I say and then he gives me the lowest energy thumbs up I’ve ever seen and keeps walking.

I do mow two more lawns, but by then it’s almost 3 and pushing ninety-five, so I walk home. I put the mower back in Felix’s storage locker and then walk inside. “Is it actually hot or are people up here just wusses,” Pilar says the moment I’m through the door.

I laugh. “Who’s complaining to you? I just did the last two yards on my own because Felix couldn’t handle when it hit ninety before noon.”

She laughs. “Just everyone on Facebook. They act like they’re going to melt if they walk outside or something.”

I roll my eyes. “It’s honestly not even that bad. I think my phone said it’s like ninety-five or something,” I say and then I shrug. “Where’s mom?”

“She went to the grocery store.”

“Ah, well apparently Felix doesn’t want to walk to Green Dragon ‘in this’,” I tell her with added air quotes, “So I was going to see if she’d drive us.”

“She said she was picking up dad from work on her way back. Text her and see maybe?”

I nod and pull out my phone.

_Felix is being a northern baby about the heat. Could you drive us to Green Dragon when you get back?_

_What’s that? Where’s that?_

_Apparently, it’s ‘an Ephrata institution’ and it’s a farmer’s market/flea market right outside town. This is all I know._

_When are you going? Is your sister going, too?_

_Felix wanted to go for dinner and yes, Pilar’s coming._

_Let me talk to you dad and maybe we can all go. Are you home now?_

_I am._

_I’ll let you know when I get home and you can come help with the groceries, please._

_[thumbs up emoji]_

I put my phone back in my pocket and look at my sister. “I think she just invited herself along,” I say with a groan.

“Why is she like this?”

“Don’t ask me. I’m going to get a shower and change though and I need to text Felix, because he wanted to leave at four and it doesn’t sound like that’s happening.” She nods and I walk toward my room. I send Felix a quick message to say we’re waiting on final parent confirmation as far as a ride and if they’re coming along, and then head for the bathroom.

When I get back to my room, Felix has responded with confusion regarding the parents coming along bit, so I try to explain that my mom is _that person_ and invited herself and thereby my dad on our little outing, but they may give us a ride at least. After I get dressed I end up sitting on my bed and scrolling social media until my mom texts that she’s home and to come help with groceries. So, I go outside and do that. I ask her as we’re coming up the stairs, “So, can you give us a ride, or?”

“Oh, yes, yes, we’ll all go as soon as we put these away,” she says as my dad unlocks the apartment door. “Pilar, come help me put the groceries away, please.”

Pilar groans, but gets up from the couch and walks into the kitchen to help. I drop the bags and back away with my dad. We aren’t allowed to help with this part which I’ve never quite understood. “So what’s this place we’re going?” he asks as we walk toward the living room.

“Um, it’s called Green Dragon,” I say, “and honestly I don’t know much, but Felix and Cassie were both extremely upset that I hadn’t been yet.”

He laughs as we sit on the couch. “So how’s it going with that girl, anyway?”

“What?”

“Mia, right?”

I sigh. “Uh, I haven’t really talked to her this week, honestly,” I say and then I shrug. It’s as if she can read my mind, because my phone buzzes a second later with a text from none other than Mia herself. “Speak of the devil,” I mutter and I see my dad smirking out of the corner of my eye as I open the text.

_Hey so some people are coming over swimming tomorrow if you want to come._

_Your house?_

_[laughing emoji] Yeah, silly. Uh, nothing crazy, just some kids from band or whatever._

_What time?_

_[shrug emoji] We’ll probably be out all day. It’s supposed to be stupidly hot, so whenever you want after 10 or so._

_Um, yeah, let me check with my parents and I’ll let you know._

I look up at my dad and he’s giving me a bemused smile. “So, Mia just invited me to go swimming tomorrow,” I say. “Can I go?”

He chuckles under his breath. “You don’t talk to her for a week and now you’re going to be half-naked in a pool.”

“It’s… it’s not just us. She said some other kids from band were coming, too. Like I’m sure Lake will be there. Speaking of which, I should see if I can bring Felix with me.” I start to pull out my phone again and then I freeze. “If you say I can go.”

“Where does Mia live?”

“Uh, some private road up on top that giant hill,” I say. “I guess we’ll probably need a ride, too,” I realize. He looks at me for a long second without saying anything. “So, can I go?”

“Yeah, alright,” he says. “Let me know when and get me an address and I’ll take you.”

“Gracias, Papi,” I say and then I pull my phone back out. He chuckles quietly.

_I’m allowed to come! My dad’s giving me a ride. Two questions though. Can I bring Felix along? Cause he’s going to be jealous if not, but I’ll still come. [shrug emoji] And I need your address for my dad._

_Yeah, you can bring Felix, but I don’t think is going to be his crowd exactly. And my address is 8 Hess Circle. It’s a private road, but it pulls up on google maps and whatever._

_Perfect. I’m actually about to go to Green Dragon with Felix… and my entire family so I’ll talk to him and let you know for sure._

_Sounds good._

I shove my phone back in my pocket exactly as my mom and sister walk into the living room from the kitchen. “Okay, vamos,” my mom says and my dad and I stand up.

“Where is this place?” my dad asks as we walk downstairs.

“Just outside town,” I say. “That’s all Felix said. Speaking of which, I need to tell him we’re ready to go.” I pull out my phone again and text Felix to meet us at the car and he sends a thumbs up back.

I end up in the middle of the backseat between my sister and Felix. Felix is behind my dad, navigating. “Out to Main Street and turn left toward town.”

“Okay,” my dad says as he pulls out of his parking spot. Once we’re on Main Street he asks Felix, “Where next?”

“You’re going to turn left again on State Street at the square,” he says. My dad nods though I’m not sure he has any idea where Felix is talking about. There’s a lot of lights in quick succession downtown and it turns out State Street is the third one, right before the Chinese place. “It’s actually on this road, just a little ways out of town,” Felix says after my dad makes the turn and then he relaxes further into his seat.

“Oh, uh,” I say, looking at him. “So, Mia texted me earlier.” He raises his eyebrows and smirks at me. I roll my eyes. “Hey, I’m trying to be nice here, so don’t give me any of that crap.”

“Sorry, sorry,” he says.

“She invited me to come swimming tomorrow. Apparently, a few people from band are going over. She said you can come, too, if you want.”

“Is _Lake_ going to be there?”

“One assumes,” I say. “Aren’t they like best friends?”

“Yeah,” he says and nods. “I’m in.”

I laugh. “She said this probably wouldn’t be ‘your crowd’, but I still got you invited, so you owe me or something.”

“The best bestie ever!” he says and I laugh. When I look out the window, we’re still in town and presumably still on State Street, but a few seconds later, the houses start to get bigger and sparser and then there’s these developments that look like rich kids probably live in them before Felix pipes up again. “It’s right around this corner on the right. My mom usually parks at the other end. That’s where all the good stuff is.” My dad nods again and then as we make the turn after the last of the houses, it comes into view and it’s fucking massive and also super crowded.

We drive in front of the place and I can’t even figure out what I’m looking at, but then my dad makes a right into the parking lot and Felix tells him to go ahead and find a space anywhere. We end up pretty far back, a grass field starts only three rows later, but we park and then get out and Felix barely pauses for a second before he starts leading us down the hill toward where we came in. “Food first,” he insists and we all sort of shrug and follow him. We finally reach a long building that runs parallel to the road and Felix gestures toward a door, but then he suddenly looks down and says, “Careful, that macadam’s prob’ly slippy. Looks like someone spilt oil or something.”

“What?” my mom says and we all just sort of stop and stare at him. I swear he’s speaking a foreign language right now.

“What what?”

“What did you just say?” I ask.

“Huh?” he says and then he thinks for a second. “The macadam’s prob’ly slippy,” he repeats. “See the oil.” He points to an oil stain on the ground next to the door.

“I see the oil, but I still have no idea what that first part was.”

“The macadam’s prob’ly slippy… from the oil?” He looks at me like I’m nuts.

“Macadam? Slippy? These aren’t English words, Felix,” Pilar finally says.

“Macadam is definitely a word. What else would you call this stuff?” he points at the ground next to him. “And slippy might just be slippery with a syllable taken out. Don’t make fun of my Dutchified ways. _Enjoy_ them.” And then without waiting for a response on either of those things, he walks into the building.

“Did he just call blacktop, macadam?” Pilar asks me.

“I think so,” I say with a little nod. “I don’t get it either.”

We all follow Felix inside and he loops us around the building to the right until he stops to get in a massive line that he promises moves quickly for Roseanne’s Stuffed Pretzels. And when my parents ask him to explain what we’re in a line for he tries to, and it sounds delicious, but confusing. When we get to the counter, we let Felix order first. “Can I get a ham & cheese and glass bottle soda, please?”

“Sure,” the guy says and he walks away. I’ve seen pictures of Amish and Mennonites before, but I’ve never actually seen them up close until now. This place is full of them. Including everyone working at this stand. Felix slips around the corner to grab a glass bottle of soda that I don’t recognize the label on and then pays for his order. The man hands him an aluminum foil wrapped monstrosity as he tells the cashier to keep the change. Then he steps aside.

“Uh,” I say and then I look back over at the display case. “Ham and Cheese, I guess.”

“Never been before?” the guy asks and we all shake our heads. He chuckles and asks what the rest of my family wants before walking over to the case.

“Do you want drinks, too?” the cashier asks and my dad says four and tells us to go pick one while he pays. The sodas are from a company called “Reading Draft” and they’re all weird flavors I’ve never heard of, so I look up at Felix whose already peeled back the wrapping on one end of his pretzel and taken a bite.

“What do I want?” I ask him and he chuckles as he walks back over.

“I love the sarsaparilla, but that’s just me. What d’you like?” I just kind of stare at him. “Cola, root beer, sarsaparilla, birch beer, ginger beer, cream sodas…”

“Uh,” I say and I’m just trying to process everything. My sister’s pulled out a fluorescent blue bottle. “What is that?”

“Blueberry Birch,” she reads off the label. “Is it any good?” she asks looking at Felix.

He shrugs. “Their birch beer is great, so I’d assume so. I don’t think I’ve had that exact one though.” Pilar shrugs and walks away.

“Root beer sounds safe,” my mom says and she walks away, too.

I end up with an Orange Cream soda that turns out to be delicious and is apparently Cassie’s favorite option according to Felix. As we’re walking out of the stand after my dad joins us, Felix waves to someone in line and I glance to see an older man waving back with an awkward smile. “That’s Mr. Williams,” he says as we start walking away, “Emilee and Amy’s dad.”

“Oh,” I say and then Felix is stopping again barely halfway down the building in front of a stand full of potato chips.

“Zerbe’s are the actual best chips to ever exist,” he says and then a lady walks over and asks what he’d like. “Give me a box, please,” he says and she walks over to grab a cardboard box that I honestly thought was storage not a size option. She collects his money and hands him the box. Felix sets the box on the ground as he puts his change away and eats the last of his pretzel.

“Um, can I just get a small bag?” I say when she looks at me.

“What flavor?” she asks and I look at Felix.

“Give him regular. He’s new to the area. Don’t wanna overwhelm the poor kid,” Felix says, clapping my shoulder jovially and the lady nods before walking back to hand me a small bag of chips and take my dollar and quarter.

Felix shows us around the entire place. We end up getting ice cream from a stand called “Lapp Valley Farm” and it’s really tasty, but it’s melting fast because it’s still more than ninety degrees outside. Felix buys a bag of kettle corn from another stand and then we head back to the car with our purchases.

“So, is this place open every day?” I ask Felix once we’re all crowded back into the car.

He laughs. “Fridays only.”

“Weird.”

He nods. “There’s another similar place calls Rutt’s in Manheim that's open on Tuesdays. A lot of stand holders do both. Rutt’s is spelled Root’s, by the way. Just like, if you wanted to look it up.”

“So, why do you say it that way?” Pilar asks.

He shrugs. “That’s how it’s pronounced. Everyone says it that way unless you’re not from here. Just like everyone knows how to say Lancaster, unless you’re not from here,” he says and then he shrugs again as my dad backs out of the parking space. Felix catches him before he turns for the exit. “Go out the back way. It’s nearly impossible to make that left that this time of night.”

“How do I do that?”

“Turn up the hill and follow the next row across.” He does and then we’re going even further up the hill on a dirt road. “Turn right at the end,” Felix says and then he looks at me. “If you turn left instead Theresa lives out there around the corner,” he says more quietly.

“With an h, right? Cause the other one lives in town, doesn’t she?”

“Yep,” he says and then we get to the end of the dirt road and my dad turns right.

“Chris, as in Percussion Chris, and Krista from guard both live in that development,” Felix says as we pass the first road to the left. Then he speaks louder again. “Okay, at the big intersection down here; that’s state street, so make a left. It’s a four-way stop.” My dad nods and keeps driving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could talk about Green Dragon for days. It's one of my favorite places, or it was pre-pandemic, because people out there do NOT wear their masks and it's currently kind of scary. I've only been like twice in the past year. Also the thing with macadam being slippy actually happened to me with an out-of-state friend in college. She looked at me like I was insane.


	25. Part 6H - Mia's Pool Party

On Saturday, my dad and I walk outside to meet Felix at just before eleven. He’s, of course, already outside, coated in visible amounts of sunscreen, carrying a towel and his band water jug and wearing the most obnoxious swimming trunks I’ve seen in my life. “Felix, buddy,” I say he walks over to us.

“Yes?”

“Too much,” I say as I look at him. “Do you want Lake to like you or do you want her to think you’re a total loser.”

“What are you talking about?”

“First of all, I can see your sunblock. You look like a three-year-old whose mom is way too overzealous with the application. Second of all, those trunks man…” Felix gets into the back seat and I get into the passenger seat.

“Okay, what was the address?” my dad asks.

I pull out my phone to reread Mia’s text. “8 Hess Circle,” I relay and my dad types it into his phone. I also type her a message that says we’re on our way before shoving my phone back into my pocket and looking out the window as my dad starts driving.

We take Main Street the whole way through town and then make a left on a road that goes up the side of the ‘mountain’. There’s a car lot at the end and then just a bunch of houses. The first few are old and run down and I’m a little confused, but then we get further and the houses are suddenly newer and nicer and a lot bigger. We keep going and we go around this corner. There’s another old run-down house on the right, but on the left is the biggest and probably newest house yet at the end of a road with a dead-end sign. This seems to be the general pattern as we keep driving; the houses on this actual road are old, but there’s all these little winding side streets to the left that have massive houses. There’s an area with a few older buildings and a giant stone parking area after which we go around another weird bend and then the GPS is telling my dad to turn. If it weren’t for the GPS yelling, Mia's road would have been easy to miss. And it’s weird because you can’t even see any of the houses through the trees.

We pass a few houses in a shared driveway on the left, and then another along the road, but then the GPS tells us we’ve arrive as we’re about to go around a corner and we don’t understand. “I think it’s back that way,” Felix says pointing to a long winding road to the left. And then he points again to a barely visible sign. “See, eight and nine! She’s eight, right?”

“Yeah,” I say. “Okay, it must be up there.” My dad turns and we go up this driveway through the trees. As soon as we break through into some sunlight it’s obvious we’re at the right place because I can see both Mia and Lake next to a pool and then I see Andrew, Teddy, and Kieran, too and I groan.

“What’s wrong, mijo?”

“I just didn’t realize _they’d_ be here.”

Felix leans around to the front seat to look and groans to. “Of course. Andrew lives up here, too, I think and his dad like knows Mia’s dad or something?”

“Gross,” I say. “Oh, well. Let’s go.”

We get out of the car and wave to my dad before walking toward the gate that opens into the pool area. Mia looks up when she sees us and walks over. “Hey, glad you could make it!” she says “Um, you guys obviously know those three idiots.”

“If you say they’re idiots, why’d you invite them?”

“Lake invited them,” she says and rolls her eyes. Felix kind of immediately takes off toward Lake and Mia makes a face that makes me laugh and then then she laughs, too. “Anyway, come on over and set your stuff down. There’s drinks in the fridge if you want anything.” She points toward and honest-to-god outdoor kitchen next to the house. She leads me toward where Felix is now staking a claim to the lounge chair next to the one Lake’s laying on, much to her chagrin.

“Who invited the loser?” she asks when we get to her and I don’t know if Felix is just really good at ignoring her or what, because he doesn’t even react.

“Victor asked if he could bring his friend,” Mia says. “It’s not nice to call people names.” Felix kind of glances at us and I guess he _did_ hear Lake and now he seems surprised Mia is standing up for him. “Sorry, about her, Felix. You’re more than welcome.” Felix grins at her for a second and she kind of laughs before turning back to me. “Okay, do you even know any of them?” she asks and nods toward a group of five people in the pool. Including a couple that looks like they might swallow each other’s faces. I shake my head.

Then she points to each person as she explains. “All sophomores like us. Mackenzie Hummel plays flute with me and Lake. Hallie McCloskey is her best friend that plays clarinet. Nikki Thompson is in guard and so is,” she rolls her eyes, “Ashly Pierce. Josh plays trombone and is very obviously with Ashly.” I nod and I think I followed all that. “Anyway, feel free to just hang out, grab a drink, swim, whatever.”

I smile at her a little and then drop my stuff into the lounge chair next to hers before kicking off my slides and pulling my t-shirt over my head. When I drop my shirt to the chair, Mia is watching and smirking. I raise an eyebrow at her and then walk toward the side of the pool. As soon as I’m in the water, Andrew calls out my name and waves me over to where, he, Teddy, and Kieran are standing. I sigh a little, but walk over.

“You’re going to Hershey, right?” Andrew asks.

I shrug and nod. “Yeah, why?”

“We were just noticing. You spend a lot of time with those losers from pit and…”

“What are you talking about?”

He nods toward Felix and I glance over to see him trying to talk to Lake and I almost feel bad. “That one, Cassie, you know, the losers from pit. Like If you want to hang out with pit at least pick the cool ones.”

Then Kieran adds, “You made line as a rookie, you already have an in with the cool kids; don’t throw it away.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but Felix has ben nothing but a great friend since the day I moved in and Cassie has given me rides a hundred times already and invites me to things even though I’m new.”

They all snort. “Well, let’s just say you’re never going to be part of the cool crowd if you keep hanging out with that crew. Enough others already threw themselves away for it.”

“What if I don’t want to be part of the cool crowd? I like them. They’re nice and they actually want to talk to me and get to know me and not just do whatever the hell it is you three are doing right now. Did you give Mitch this lecture when he started dating Ally? Cause they’re part of that that group, too, you know?” I don’t wait for them to respond. I just turn around and walk to the other end of the pool where Mia joins me a minute later.

“Were they giving you a hard time?” she asks as she drops into the water next to me. I shrug and don’t say anything. “They’re all jerks, so even if they were, don’t listen to them.” She smiles at me for a second and I smile back.

The rest of the day is just kind of chill. Mia and Lake order delivery from some place that does fancy sandwiches around one and all the other rich kids are complaining they didn’t get their favorites while Felix and I are just enjoying a fancy sandwich? It’s a little weird, to be fair. I spend most of the afternoon talking to Mia and honestly, she’s kind of amazing. She might be my favorite person; just don’t tell Felix or my sister I said that.

Then it’s almost four and I realize I haven’t seen Mia in like 20 minutes, so I look around, expecting to find her laying in the sun or something, but nope. All I see is Felix still trying to talk to Lake who is trying to talk to Andrew. Does Lake _like_ Andrew? How does _anyone_ like Andrew? Whatever, I guess, not my business. The couple from before are still inhaling each other’s faces in the corner of the pool and I roll my eyes as I walk toward Felix, Lake, and Andrew.

I nudge Lake’s shoulder. “Hey, where’d Mia go?”

“Not sure. She went inside a while ago and never came back.” She shrugs and turns back to Andrew. I roll my eyes; some best friend she is. I walk back to where I was standing before and decide to give Mia another couple minutes to reappear, but she doesn’t and no one else seems to care or even notice, so I get out of the pool and dry off a little. I wrap my towel around my waist and check my phone. I have a text from Benji which sort of rattles my brain away from worrying about Mia for a minute. I sit down on the lounge chair and open the message.

_So, kind of random and kind of last minute, but since I’m not about to go to pride in this weather…_

_Pride’s today? I thought June was Pride month?_

_Lancaster’s got their own agenda apparently. It’s today, but it’s way too hot for that shit._

_Northern babies. It’s not even that hot outside._

I check my weather app after I hit send. It’s apparently ninety-three degrees which is nothing for July in Texas. I really don’t understand what these people are on about.

_Okay, you know what? I was going to ask if you, Felix, and your sister wanted to come swimming after dinner. But nope. Uninvited._

_[laugh-cry emoji] Geez. I’m sorry, okay. But anyway, Felix and I are already at Mia’s so we’re good with swimming for today. I appreciate the offer though._

_Oh. So you and Mia then…_

_Omg, no. Maybe? But no. It’s nothing. She just invited me to this thing last night and I asked if I could bring Felix, so here we are. It’s nothing._

_If you say so._

I groan and stand back up. I look around and no one else seems to have noticed Mia still being missing. And no one even seems to notice I’m not in the water. These people seriously _do_ think they’re the only people in the world, I guess. I mean, not Felix. He thinks _Lake_ ’s the only person in the world. I chuckle to myself and walk toward the backdoor of the house.

I sort of follow the path to the bathroom, because it’s the only place I’ve been inside until I find Mia. She’s sitting with her knees pulled to her chest on the couch, scrolling her phone. I walk toward her and clear my throat a little. She looks up and gasps a little. “Oh, hey, I was…”

“It’s cool. You don’t have to explain yourself,” I say, “I was just coming to make sure you were okay. You disappeared on us.”

She smiles at me. “Uh, yeah, I’m good.”

“Why are you hiding in here?”

She shrugs. “I’m not a big party person. Lake made me throw this thing.”

“Oh,” I say and she nods and sighs. “My dad’s in Berlin on business or maybe it’s Paris, who really knows. He’s in Europe.”

“And he doesn’t take you with him?”

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

“Because he takes his woman of the week instead. Much more exciting that way,” she says and she rolls her eyes.

“Yikes.”

“Yep.” She shrugs and gets to her feet. “I guess I’m supposed to be outside or something.” She starts walking toward the back door.

“Actually, I’m the only one that even noticed you were missing. I asked Lake where you went and she said you went inside, shrugged and went back to try to flirt with Andrew while Felix tries to flirt with her.”

She smiles a tight smile and nods. “Yeah. Not shocking. She pretended she want me to throw the party so... so I could invite you. She actually just wanted an excuse to flirt with a shirtless Andrew in my pool all afternoon.”

“Yikes,” I say again, but I sort of smile at her. I guess that means Mia likes me, or at least Lake thinks she does. And I think I like her, too. Maybe.

“Um, I mean, you probably wanna go back outside.”

“Honestly? You were the only person I was talking to out there. Felix is trying to flirt with Lake and Lake is trying to flirt with Andrew and Andrew’s just trying to be a jackass with Teddy and Kieran. And I don’t know anyone else.”

She nods a little and walks back toward the couch. “Wanna sit?” I think about it for a second, but then nod once and follow her over. We end up talking about nothing and everything all at once and it’s just sort of nice. _She’s_ really nice and kind and she gets me. I think I get her, too. And it’s weird because we come from completely different worlds on the surface, but I just feel so connected to her every time we talk.

I’m not sure how long we’ve been sitting there, but Lake walks in, presumably on her way to the bathroom. “What are you two doing in here?” she says with a weird tone and I watch her eyes meet Mia’s with questions running wild.

“Talking,” Mia says and then Lake gives her another look before heading for the bathroom.

“I hate her,” Mia says, but she’s smiling.

“I don’t think that’s true.”

“It’s not, but sometimes. Sometimes I think it might be.” She laughs and I do, too.

But before I can say anything else, my phone starts buzzing in my lap and I look at the screen. My dad’s calling, so I answer it. “Hola, Papi.”

“Hola, flaco. Uh, your mother wanted to know if you’ll be home for dinner.”

“Oh! Uh, what time is it even?”

“Almost 6.”

“Wow. Uh, I mean, do you want to come get us now. I can go tell Felix to get ready to leave,” I say and then I glance at Mia and she’s smiling at me like she doesn’t want to be.

“If that’s okay.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll go tell Felix.”

“Alright, mijo, I’ll be there soon.”

I hang up without saying anything else. “So, I guess my dad’s on his way because my mom wants me home for dinner or something,” I tell Mia as I get to my feet.

“Oh,” she says. “Well, I get that I guess.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Everyone else’ll probably leave soon, too.”

She follows me back to the backyard and when we walk outside one of the girls I don’t know is in the outdoor kitchen, pulling a can of La Croix from the fridge. “Wait, you’re Pilar’s brother, aren’t you?” she says.

“Uh, yeah,” I say. So, I guess she’s one of the ones in color guard.

“That means you live in that shitty apartment complex that drags the hole neighborhood down. Shame,” she says and then she looks at Mia. “Who invited the losers anyway?”

Mia stares at her for a second. “I did. Victor’s my friend and Felix is Victor’s friend. Just because they don’t live up to your standards or how much money someone needs to have doesn’t make them losers, Nikki.” She shakes her head and looks at me. “Sorry about her. She lives a couple streets behind you guys and… well.”

I nod and shrug as I walk over to where Felix is harassing Lake again. “Hey, man, uh, my dad’s on his way, so like get your stuff together or whatever.”

He looks up at me. “Huh?”

“Get your stuff together. We’re leaving. My dad’s on his way. My mom wants me home for dinner or something.”

“Oh, damn, alright,” he says and gets to his feet. We walk over to the lounge chairs and pick up our things. I pull my t-shirt back on and put my shoes on, too and then we walk toward the gate.

“Thanks for inviting me, Mia,” I say as I pass her. “I had a good time talking to you.”

She grins at me. “Yeah, me, too. I’ll see you Tuesday.”

“Yeah,” I say and I nod a little as I hear my dad’s car pull up. “Bye.”

“Bye,” she says and she waves a little as I open and the gate and Felix and I walk toward the car.


	26. Part 6I - Another Full Rehearsal (7/23)

On Sunday, Felix refuses to even start mowing lawns because of the heat, so I end up staying home, too, and practicing. I want to have the full show memorized before camp, even if I don’t technically have to. I’m pretty solid on the ballad at this point, but the closer definitely needs work. Thankfully, on Monday it’s only supposed to graze ninety, so Felix agrees to actually venture out. We get a lot done by the time a light rain rolls in around 3:30, so we head home and put the mowers away. On Tuesday morning, it’s raining again and it doesn’t stop until after one, so we decide to call the day a complete wash.

By the time we leave for band, it’s not even seventy-five and the temperature if falling, so I drape a hoodie over my arm on my way out of my bedroom and Pilar is already wearing hers when we walk outside, Felix stares at us in disbelief. “Are you actually insane?”

“What?”

“Hoodies? It’s _July_!”

“It’s not even seventy-five and it’s going to be in the sixties before we’re done. Yes, hoodies,” I say.

“Southern babies!” he says echoing out sentiments from the weekend. Pilar sticks her tongue out at him and crosses her arms as she walks ahead of us.

I chuckle a little. “I deserve that. I have a feeling we might die this winter.”

“ _Snow_ ,” Pilar moans.

“Snow is amazing and it usually means we get a day off school!”

“I’ll take the snow days, but not the actual precipitation,” I say with a laugh.

“That’s not how it works. I mean, usually it’s more like an ice day, to be fair. Snow’s easy to deal with, send out a couple plow trucks and we’re good to go. It’s the wintry mix and straight up sleet or freezing rain that’s the problem.”

“What the fuck is sleet?” I say

“Or freezing rain…” Pilar adds.

“Uh,” Felix says. “Wait, what’s the coldest you’ve ever experienced?”

“Um, I mean it’ll occasionally dip into the low thirties over night in January or whatever, but not during the day…” I explain.

“Have you ever seen snow?”

“Not in person,” I say awkwardly.

“Wild. Well, sleet is going to be your worst nightmare. I looked it up once because I wanted to know what the heck it actually was. It’s basically snow that’s melted and then refrozen so it’s almost solid ice, but it’s really tiny. It makes a racket on the windows and whatever and it just make everything a slippy slide-y messy.”

“That sounds horrific,” Pilar groans.

“And freezing rain?” I ask, uncertain if I even want to know.

“It looks like it’s raining. It _feels_ like it’s rain, but the surfaces are too cold for rain, so as soon as it hits the ground it turns to ice and the whole world is a skating rink for a couple hours until the salt trucks manage to get through it. And watch out for black ice! I’m going to try to remember to tell you that again the first time it gets cold, but oh my _god_. Cassie got a concussion falling on some last year.”

“What the fuck is black ice?”

“So basically, the ice will freeze so clear and thin on the ground that it looks like a shallow puddle, just wet. _It’s not_. It’s a solid sheet of ice and your feet will go right out from under you without question. And if you and gravity don’t get along, it will end poorly.”

“I hate it here already,” Pilar says and I laugh a little.

“Think we can convince Mom and Dad to let us go back to Texas for the winter?”

She laughs. “Yeah, I wish.”

“I mean, we are spending part of winter in Florida! You guys _are_ coming to Disney, right?”

We exchange looks. “I don’t really know. I mean we want to obviously, but out parents don’t exactly have three thousand dollars lying around.”

Felix nods as he presses the button for the crosswalk to get from the middle school to the high school. “Yeah, I feel that. If you parents talk to the BPA executive board, they sometimes have enough extra money in the general fund to cover the stuff you don’t make from fundraising, but you have to do _really well_ at the fundraisers for them to consider it. I think Kristin’s dad’s the treasurer this year. He was last year, too. He’s like a fire chief or something; I don’t fucking know, but he’s chill. You might be able to convince him if you sell a shit ton during the fundraisers.”

“Kristin as in Mallory’s best friend, right?” I say as we cross the street.

“Yep,” he confirms.

Pilar and I exchange looks. This is the most hopeful I’ve felt about the possibility of actually going to Disney yet and I know my mom wants us to be able to; she told my dad as much after the first time it was mentioned. We pass a few techs in the lobby. “Regular rehearsal tonight; basics, sectionals, then ensemble. We’re playing through the ballad so bring your music if you need it. Outside to step off at 6 and we’ll do announcements over there,” one of them I don't recognize says as we go.

“Why did I come inside?” Felix suddenly realizes.

I shrug a little. “No idea. Go to your truck, pit kid!”

He laughs and turns around to walk back toward the lobby and Pilar suddenly realizes she doesn’t need anything inside either and follows him as I round the corner to the closet. Benji and Chris are just arriving from the band room. “Hey!” Chris says as he unlocks the door. “Sorry for the wait. SLC meeting ran over.”

“SLC?” I ask.

“Student Leadership Committee. Section Leaders, Drum Majors, etc.”

“Ah, okay,” I say and then I follow him into the closet to grab my drum. Benji is giving me a look when I get back to the hallway. “Look, I’m sorry about Saturday. I was being a jerk. If it makes you feel any better Felix called us both southern babies while we were walking here because we brought hoodies tonight.”

Benji laughs. “I’m not mad at you. It was funny.”

“Then what’s your deal? You’re looking at me weird.”

He shakes his head and shrugs. “Nothing. Sorry. I was still thinking about the meeting.”

“Oh,” I say. “Okay.” I wait for him to get his drum and then we head outside together. We get there just as Mia and Lake climb out of Lake’s mom’s car. Mia immediately bounds toward me. “Hey!”

“Hey,” she repeats. “Um, Andrew said something about Hersheypark tomorrow…”

“Percussion bonding activity apparently. I wish I could invite you along this time, but unfortunately.”

She laughs. “No, no, that’s okay. He mentioned that, too. Um, I just kind of want to thank you for Saturday,” she says a little awkwardly. “Um, it was really nice to have someone there that actually wanted to talk to me and not just use my pool.”

“To be fair, Felix wasn’t using you for your pool; he was using your pool to harass Lake.”

She laughs and smiles at me. “That’s valid and Lake was using my pool to harass Andrew, so I guess they’re even.” I laugh, too.

“And no one was using my pool at all,” Benji says grumpily, but I can tell it’s not sincere.

“Oh, shush. Not my fault you rescinded your invitation.”

He rolls his eyes. “You were at Mia’s anyway. Her pool’s better than mine.”

“Not true,” I say and he raises his eyebrows.

“I’ve seen Mia’s pool, Victor. It’s light-years better than mine.”

“Okay, maybe a little. But yours it good, too!”

He laughs and rolls his eyes again and then he glances at Mia. “Sorry for interrupting.” He turns away and I tilt my head at him for a second before looking back to Mia. Then I see why he was apologizing. _Oops_.

“Anyway. Like I was saying, it was nice talking to you on Saturday.”

“Yeah, it was,” I say and I smile at her and that’s when it hits me. “Hey, do you have plans this weekend? Maybe Friday afternoon?” She smiles broadly and shakes her head. “Would you wanna go somewhere maybe? Just dinner or something.”

“Like a date?” she says.

I take a deep breath. “Yeah, like a date.”

She smiles broadly again. “I’d love to.”

“Cool, um. We can discuss further on Thursday once I pick some brains about where to take you, okay?”

She smiles again and nods. “That sounds amazing, Victor.”

Then Mr. Garrett is standing next to us, clearing his throat. “It is currently 5:59, why are you still back here, Miss Brooks.”

Mia gasps and doesn’t say anything as she jogs to her place in line next to Lake. Mr. Garrett turns to me. “While I can’t stop the intra-band dating even though I’d love to; do it on your own time, please, Mr. Salazar.” Benji chuckles under his breath and I jab him with my elbow which makes him laugh even more as Mr. Garrett walks away.

“Shut up!” I whine and he just continues laughing until Robert starts clapping and calls us to attention. We march to the field and every time I glance at Benji, he still looks like he’s holding back laughter even though he’s managed to play the cadence without a single mistake and tap the beat without fail. Robert calls us to a stop at the top of the hill and we all drop our water jugs before walking down to where Mr. Fairchild is waiting.

The staff make a few announcements and then we set up the basics block an are seriously bored to death for a solid forty-five minutes before we’re finally released to sectionals. “Warm up and then work the ballad, please. You can work anything in the opener that your particular section needs if you want, too, but we’re going to do a play through of the ballad tonight. If you don’t have it memorized, okay, but please try to get what you can committed to memory over the next hour. Be in the arc ready to go by eight,” Mr. Fairchild says and then he waves dismissively.

We all run to grab our water jugs and then as has already become the tradition; or well, it probably always has been the tradition and I just didn’t know about it, the drumline heads for the far corner of the practice field near a giant tree and we actually have all of our techs tonight, so they decide after warm ups we should do some breakouts. Jolyn leads Benji and I further toward the corner of the field; well beyond the imaginary end zone and into more grass that looks like it isn’t mowed nearly as often. “Grab some water and then let’s jump on this ballad.”

I pick up my water jug and take a drink, but as I’m about to set it down, I notice Benji looking at me funny again. “Seriously what? You’re obviously not still thinking about your meeting,” I say.

He shakes his head. “Nothing. Honestly, nothing. Um, ready to go?”

I roll my eyes a little and shrug. “Yeah, okay,” I say and we look at Jolyn who isn’t paying attention because she’s staring at her phone screen.

“Do you need me to come home? I’m sure Mr. Garrett would understand.”

“Can you?” a man’s voice asks. “He’s just not listening to me.”

She nods. “Let me go talk to him. I’ll text you the response.”

She ends what I assume was a facetime call with her husband and looks at us. “Can you two manage on your own? I apparently need to go home. My older one is just not listening to Travis tonight.”

Benji shrugs. “Yeah, that’s fine. I think we can handle it.”

“Thanks,” she says and then she jogs off toward where Mr. Garrett is standing next to Mr. Fairchild on top of the hill near the lift.

“So, ballad,” Benji says.

“Yep,” I agree “Wanna just run it?”

“Sure,” he says. “Are you memorized?”

I nod. “Yeah, are you?”

He nods, too. “Alright, let me get the metronome app up,” he says and then he pulls out his phone and fiddles with it until it starts clicking at a hundred beats per minute. He taps a simple 1, 3, 1,2,3,4 pattern and then we jump in. We play through the entire movement without a single error and then we just sort of look at each other. “And we’re supposed to spend how long in this sectional?” Benji says and then we both laugh.

“So, wanna tell me why you were looking at me so weird earlier since we clearly don’t need this time to practice the ballad?”

He chuckles nervously under his breath. “Uh, I mean, the Mia thing… I didn’t realize you were like… _into_ her.”

I shrug. “She’s really nice if you give her a chance and get her alone. The asshole rich kid thing is really just Lake and Andrew’s doing.” He nods a little. “And she just gets me, I guess. It’s like were from these two completely separate worlds, but we just click, so I figure I may as well give it a shot, right?”

He smiles a little, though it looks forced and nods once. “Sure. Have you… I mean, have you dated at all before?”

I shake my head. “Pilar has a longer dating history than me and she’s fourteen months younger,” I say with a laugh.

“Does she have a boyfriend?” he asks and glances toward the color guard who are on the other end of the field.

“Not anymore. He broke up with her. Said he couldn’t handle the long distance. After being caught liking another girl’s thirst trap Instagram selfies and taking a selfie with said other girl at the mall.”

“Yikes,” he says.

“Yep. She’s still pissed about it.”

“Rightfully so. Cheating isn’t cool.”

I shake my head. “I don’t even know if Eric actually cheated on her or not, to be fair, but yeah.” We’re quiet for a second and he’s looking at me thoughtfully now, which I’ll take over the earlier expression. “Uh, here’s a question. I’m going to assume that like every other person in this town, you’ve been to this Hersheypark place before…”

He laughs. “Uh, yeah. I don’t know if everyone in town has, but everyone in town in band definitely has. The whole seventh and eighth grade band goes for Music in the Parks every year, plus we go during elementary band camp. We’ve all been going to Hersheypark together for a solid five years by the time we even make it to high school.”

“Geez,” I say and I look around. “Okay, so what is it? I mean, I know it’s a theme park and clearly chocolate is involved? I think?”

He laughs. “Wow, uh, okay, so I don’t know if you’re into that scene, but there’s a bunch of really cool coasters and there’s a whole ass waterpark inside the park that included with admission, but we probably won’t bother other than maybe a ride on Tidal Force thought that’s questionable since it’s not even supposed to be eighty tomorrow.”

“Okay, so northern kids aren’t _that_ crazy. That’s good to know.”

“Huh?”

“Like I said, Felix was laughing at me and Pilar for bringing hoodies tonight. Though,” I say and I look around and then point. “That clarinet seems to be wearing one, too.”

“Yeah, but Gwen doesn’t count,” Benji says.

“Why not?”

He laughs. “I’d be shocked if she weighs ninety pounds soaking wet. She’s tiny and _always_ cold. Gwen is the type of person that wears jeans and a hoodie to band camp when it’s ninety degrees and is still not hot.”

“Okay, yeah, that’s weird.”

He nods and laughs a little. “She’s graduating this year even though she’s literally only a couple weeks older than you,” he says.

“Really?”

“She and her sister moved here before last school year and I guess she had enough credits that she could double up on a couple things last year and this year and graduate in three years due to how her old school did things.”

“Her sister’s not in band, right? I’ve only seen her with people I recognize.”

He shakes his head. “Juliana does choir. She’s a year older than Gwen and also graduating this year which has to be awkward for them.”

“Yikes,” I say. “That would be like me and Pilar graduating together. No thanks.”

“Exactly. Anyway, good luck with the Mia thing. You’re a great guy, Mia’s lucky.”

I laugh a little and side-eye him. “Uh, thanks, I think.”

He laughs. “Alright, wanna run this thing again and make sure that wasn’t a fluke?”

“Yeah, why not,” I say and so we do and I guess it wasn’t a fluke, because we get through the whole thing perfectly again. “Should we add some of our famous epic visuals to the drum break again so we can bask in compliments from Ivan and Mr. Garrett later?”

He laughs. “Definitely,” he says, so we start working on some things until Ivan is calling for us and waving us down from closer to the field. I can see the winds already starting to form the arc at mid-field. We both lean down and pick up our water jugs as we jog back toward everyone else.

“Okay, okay,” Mr. Fairchild says once we’re all in position. “We’re going to start by running the opener into and through the ballad. Robert will conduct the opener and then there will be a pause as on the field for Chelsey to take over for the ballad.”

“That’s still weird,” I whisper to Benji as Robert gets into position. He raises an eyebrow. “We had three drum majors at Graham and they all conducted the whole thing.”

“Most colleges around here do that, but not high schools.” He shrugs a little and then Robert calls us to attention and we start the show.

After the play-through we start cleaning the opener in detail and it’s a little annoying, because it’s never us that are the problem. Even when it’s the drumline; it’s Andrew or the basses that are off, never us. At 8:45 Mr. Fairchild announces we’re going to do another full run before we call it a night and so we do and then he adds 'one more time' because that was sloppy and he ‘knows we can do better’. So we play again and a third time for good measure because 'one more time' never actually means 'one more time'. He finally calls for us to bring it in for announcements, so I pick up my water jug and walk forward.

“Thursday we’re going to do the parade tune first; then you’ll have sectional time to continue working on the ballad or cleaning up anything in the opener you need to; and we’ll end our night with some stands music in the band room. We’re probably going to dismiss a little early and then we’re back for camp on Monday morning. Don’t forget, tonight is your last opportunity to sign up for what you want to bring to the picnic on Sunday. If you don’t sign up tonight, check the board on Thursday to see what you’ve been assigned. Any questions, ask a member of staff or a BPA executive committee or picnic committee member." He glances around to the other staff and they all shrug at him and shake their heads. "Line up so we can go home.”

We don’t need to be told twice. The entire band scurries into our twos and then Robert calls us to attention as Benji starts tapping away. We get across the street and then Robert calls us to a halt before Mr. Fairchild dismisses us. I follow the rest of the drumline inside and to the closet.

By the time I’m back outside, Felix and Cassie are walking over from the truck. Benji’s about to walk away with Lucy but Cassie catches him. “Benji, come back here for a minute,” she says with a grin. “Okay, I gave you all your tickets, right?” she asks and we nod. She actually gave all the drumline ones to Chris who handed them to us when we picked up our drums earlier, but I do in fact have a Hersheypark ticket in my wallet. “Don’t lose them."

Pilar groans. “I’m leaving.”

“If you want to hang out for two minutes while we go over this, I’ll drive you all home,” Cassie says and Pilar rolls her head on her shoulders but leans back against the wall. I chuckle a little. “Anyway. They open at 10 and we’re meeting up at the Starbucks before the gates, because unlike Knoebel’s we can all manage to get to Hersheypark without caravanning.” Felix laughs. “Um, so why don’t I get Benji first and then I’ll swing back for you two, okay?” Felix and I both shrug and nod.

“You don’t have to drive the whole way out. I can walk over to their apartments or whatever.”

“You’re going to be walking all over the hilly nightmare that is Hersheypark tomorrow, Benji, I’m not making you walk an extra two miles or whatever it is.”

“Fair, but I can walk over here at least? I do that every day.”

“Fine, if you insist. I’ll pick you up here instead. You two 8:45 at your apartments and then I’ll come get Benji and we can head out. Sound good?” We all nod this time.

“Can I have my walking buddy back now?” Lucy says and Cassie nods to her and apologizes.

Lucy and Benji walk away. “Alright, you three, to my car! And guess what? My door’s fixed! It’s like a god-damned miracle.”

“What did they do?” Felix asks as we start walking.

“Welded the rusted hinge together so it works properly again."

“Nice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The concussion from black ice actually happened in college... while trying to walk back to my dorm after Wind Ensemble rehearsal.
> 
> Also, Gwen as described in this chapter is a real-life person I was friends with in high school and she really actually wore jeans and a hoodie to band camp in August.
> 
> Also, there's going to be at least 3 more chapters to this part (probably 4 because I don't think I'm going to be able to fit Hershey into one) and then the next part (part 7) will kick off with the ice breaker picnic followed by week1 of band camp.


	27. Part 6J - Percussion Bonding Trip to Hersheypark, Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is SO LONG. I probably should have split it, but the second part of Hersheypark should be shorter, and then only two more chapters (Thursday rehearsal and the date with Mia) in this part!

Cassie picks us up at 8:45 on Wednesday morning as promised and we head for the school to meet Benji. “So… I asked Mia on a date last night,” I say as Cassie turns left onto Academy Drive.

“Wait, seriously?” Felix asks, turning practically the entire way about in his seat to look at me. I’m crammed in the backseat of Cassie Tracker, soon to be joined by Benji, because that seems like a great idea.

“Yeah. Friday. I just don’t know where to take her? Any suggestions?”

“Looking to stay local, I assume?” Cassie says.

“I’m not even sixteen yet, so yeah.”

“Dinner and a movie is simple and honestly the theatre in Ephrata isn’t as shitty since Penn bought it. The seats are even comfortable now.”

“Okay, I guess I can look what’s playing, but where do I take her for dinner?”

They both think as we go through the light at Main Street. “How about the Pressed Plate. That seems rich girl friendly, but also your budget friendly,” Cassie finally suggests.

“What and where is that?”

“It’s downtown. Literally a block from the movie theatre,” she says. “And it’s a restaurant that does grilled sandwiches and burgers.”

“They have those sodas we got at Green Dragon!” Felix seems to remember suddenly.

“Except their strawberry lemonade blows everything Reading Draft makes out of the water,” Cassie argues.

“Right, you’re some sort of strawberry lemonade afficionado,” Felix says and I can almost feel the eye roll.

“That makes me sound pretentious,” she gasps as we stop at the light in front of the middle school. “I just really like strawberry lemonade, so I’ve tried it everywhere and the Pressed Plate happens to make a really good one. So does Isaac’s for that matter.”

“Isn’t that where Mia and Lake ordered those fancy sandwiches from on Saturday?” I say to Felix and he nods.

“Yeah. I hate to imagine how much they paid for all that.”

“You guys were with the rich kids on Saturday?”

Felix looks at her. “Uh, yep. Victor got an invite to a rich kid pool party at Mia’s house and somehow convinced her to let me come.”

“And then you preceded to spend the entire day harassing Lake while Lake harassed Andrew which was just wonderful. So glad, I could get you invited.”

Felix harrumphs loudly as Cassie goes through the light and turns left into the high school parking lot. Benji’s already waiting by the Auditorium entrance, so Cassie just parks along the curb and Felix gets out and pulls the seat forward. “No line privilege in my car, get in the back,” Cassie says when Benji just looks at Felix.

Benji laughs and climbs into the backseat next to me. “Hey,” he says quietly and smiles at me.

“Hey,” I say and smile back at him.

“Alright, you all have your tickets, right?” I check my wallet and then confirm as Felix and Benji do the same. “Good, I didn’t feel like having to drive back.” Then she confirms we’re all wearing seatbelts before making a u-turn and turning left out of the lot.

“So, did _you_ know Victor and Mia are going on a real-life date?” Felix asks, presumably to Benji and Benji laughs.

“Considering I was there when he asked her out, yes. They then both got yelled at by Garrett and it was kind of hilarious.”

“Shut up,” I say and I hit his arm gently with the back of my hand. He laughs again.

“Okay, that has to be a good story. Let’s go,” Cassie says, glancing over her shoulder as she stops at the light after Ellen and Clare’s house.

Benji clears his throat and goes into storyteller mode. “So, there we were minding our own business waiting for Robert to do his thing when Mia came rushing over to talk to Victor. Something about that pool party on Saturday. I mentioned how no one was using my pool to harass anyone else and Mia just gave me this look while Victor said it was my fault for rescinding my invitation.”

“Wait, what?” Felix says.

“I had texted Victor that afternoon to ask if you two and his sister wanted to come over and go swimming after dinner, but he said you guys were already at Mia’s.”

“Oh shit, man, sorry,” Felix says.

“Better response than Victor’s,” Benji says with a little nod and a glance at me. “Anyway, after I apologized for interrupting, Victor asked Mia on a date, very awkwardly, I might add.” Cassie and Felix both laugh and I groan a little.

“Was it really?”

“Yeah,” he confirms with a nod. “And that was followed by Garrett walking over, looking at his watch and telling them it was 5:59 an asking Mia what she was still doing back with us. She fled without a word and then Garrett turned on Victor and said something about how he can’t stop the intra-band dating even though he really wants to, but to do it on their own time.”

Cassie and Felix laugh loudly. “Don’t worry, Vic,” Cassie says. “Ally and Mitch get that talking to at the truck before literally every away game and competition. Plus, Shawn and I got yelled at more than a few times, too, before he graduated. Welcome to EHSMU.”

“I know you’re trying to pronounce E.H.S.M.U. as a word, but I really don’t think that’s how that would go,” I say.

“Well, that’s how we say it so get over it.”

“Just like Felix and his slippy macadam,” I say and roll my eyes.

“Um,” Benji says and looks at me with a raised eyebrow. “Slippy macadam is just a thing, Victor, I don’t understand how that’s relevant. Like playground aids yell about slippy macadam to elementary school kids.”

“You people are weird,” I say and I turn to look out the window as Cassie stops at a sign. “Can’t you just speak English?”

“We are speaking English!” Felix says indignantly. “We just have a Pennsylvania Dutch accent.” They all laugh.

“Or, we ‘sound like Lancaster County’ as Shawn’s college friends so eloquently put it.”

“Where does he go?” Benji asks.

“Millersville. He’s not doing band though, which is super lame.”

“Dumb,” Felix agrees. “What’s his major again?”

“English ed with a theatre minor.”

“So, he’s still doing theatre?” Benji says.

“Yeah. I’m going to try to get to some of his stuff this year, but with the band schedule it’s hard in the fall. I also want to go to some of the band concerts and such to get a feel for what I’m getting myself into next year and because obviously, I know people there already.”

“Because half of Ephrata ends up at Millersville for whatever reason,” Felix says.

“The Guy Bard Loan is whatever reason,” Cassie says with a laugh.

“Valid! I am so not looking forward to scholarship applications next year,” Benji groans.

“I mean, hey, at least we go to Ephrata so there’s plenty to apply for.”

“The ENB application is supposed to be the worst though.”

“I haven’t looked at it yet,” Cassie admits. “But I’m good at essay writing, so I doubt it’ll be too terrible.” We’re on Main Street now heading out past that ice cream shop at the end of Cassie’s road.

“So, how far is Hershey from here?” I ask. Trying to talk about something I understand.

“Like forty-five minutes,” Cassie says. “Do you guys want to stop up here for coffee?”

“Please,” Benji says and Cassie nods.

“Alright, Copper Cup it is. Same deal as Knoebel’s. I’ll buy it now; you buy me something later to make up for it.”

“Wait, you guys went to Knoebel’s?” Benji says.

“Uh, yeah, two Fridays ago; a whole group of us went,” Felix says and shrugs. Benji nods a little. “It wasn’t like a percussion thing; it was just a bunch of people.”

“Like your usual bunch of people?”

“Yep,” Felix confirms and Benji nods again.

A little later, Cassie pulls into the drive through line at Copper Cup and we all relay our orders to her before she gets to the order screen. This time when we pull out, she makes a right back onto Main Street which I highly doubt is still called Main Street out here and drives into the woods. We weave through the woods for a long while and I just stare out the window.

Benji bumps my arm maybe five minutes later, so I turn to look at him. “You’re quiet,” he says and I shrug. He tilts his head and looks at me. He’s talking quietly and I don’t know if Cassie and Felix even notice over their conversation in the front seat that I can’t begin to follow. “What’s going on?”

I shrug again. “I don’t know. I guess, I kind of feel bad. I keep doing all this stuff because I’m making money mowing lawns with Felix and Pilar’s stuck at home with our parents all the time. They’ve been fighting since before we moved which is unlike them, so it’s weird and hard to deal with. I just feel bad leaving her to deal with it by herself all the time. Not that I’m not like, excited to be going all these places and doing all these things and having new friends or whatever, but it’s still hard. Pilar and I used to do everything together.”

He smiles a little a nods. “I don’t have siblings, so I can’t really understand, but I think I get what you’re saying.” I smile at him and he laughs a little under his breath. “So, do you do roller coasters?”

“Uh, _yes_ , I love roller coasters and all manner of other amusements to be fair. We didn’t really get to go to many amusement parks growing up, so this is kind of awesome for me being able to go all these new places.”

“Did you go to any at all?”

“We went to Six Flags a couple times per year, but that’s it really.”

“We have a Six Flags, too, kind of. It’s in Jersey, but I’ve been a couple times and it’s really cool. There’s this like drive through safari thing at that one, too.”

“Cool. How far away is that?”

“Two hours or so, I think.”

“My dad and I used to go there on a Thursday and then drive to the shore for the weekend when I was a kid..”

“By shore you mean the beach, right?” He nods. “I’ve never been to the beach.”

“Really? Not even like the gulf coast in Texas?”

“Nope. We’ve never really been a vacation family,” I say.

“Wild, and this year’s band trip doesn’t even involve the ocean, unfortunately. You should really go. It’s only like two and half hours to Ocean City in Jersey or three hours to Wildwood which is far superior.”

“YES!” Cassie says and I look up to realize we’re now driving through farmland instead of woods.

“What?” I say.

“I was just agreeing with Benji. Wildwood is far superior to Ocean City. My stepdad’s family rents a beach house at Ocean City for a week every summer and it’s cool and all, but Wildwood is _so much better_. Especially the rides and stuff. Like they have a roller coaster over the ocean which is clearly the best thing ever.”

“Where are we?” I ask looking outside.

“Hershey,” Cassie says and shrugs.

“Really?”

“The very edge of it. This is the campus of the Milton Hershey School or part of it anyway. The place is massive.”

“Milton Hershey School?”

“Uh, yeah. It’s a boarding school for underprivileged kids from around the state. There’s like a maximum income barrier, but if you’re under it and meet their requirements and live in the state, it’s free to send your kids here. Emilee’s boyfriend has friend that goes here, actually.” A few seconds later I can actually tell we’re on some sort of campus and there’s two roundabouts in quick succession.

“We don’t have roundabouts in Texas,” I say.

“Yeah, well, we didn’t have any here until like five years ago when someone decided that sounded like a great idea and now there’s a billion and it drives me nuts,” Cassie says.

After the Milton Hershey School, Hershey High School which is apparently the public school is on the right. “That’s where we do the performance for Music in the Parks,” Felix says.

“Huh?”

“When we miss school to go to Hersheypark with Wind Ensemble in May. We do a performance there in the morning and then go to the park for the day before the awards ceremony.”

“Oh,” I say. “Weird.”

They all sort of shrug. “Not really. It’s just what we do. We do it in middle school, too.”

“Okay, then. How much further?”

“15 minutes maybe? Depends on traffic when we get close.”

A few minutes later there’s a Ronald McDonald House on the right. “Are we close to a hospital?” I ask and I mean, obviously we are.

“Give it a minute and look out the other side,” Cassie says. So, I do and _holy shit_. “Hershey Medical Center,” Cassie says. “It’s Penn State’s hospital and medical school and all that jazz. They have all the specialties no one else does including a full children’s hospital.”

“Wow,” I say and the parking lots go on forever and appear to be completely full. It’s a little insane.

“That’s where my grandparents see most of their doctors even though it’s a hike from where they live. Carlisle Hospital is a lot closer to them, but it’s shit and they could go somewhere in Harrisburg, but they were already coming here before they moved up there, so they just decided to drive further and keep their doctors,” Cassie says and I nod a little.

“Where did they move to?” Benji asks.

“Perry County,” Cassie groans.

“Yikes.”

“Yep, also, Victor, we’re almost there now, just so you know.”

“Ooh!” I say and they all laugh as Cassie goes around a massive bend under an overpass. There’s a bunch of restaurants on the left after the turn including KFC, McDonald’s, and Wendy’s which seems a little excessive. The road becomes a lot more crowded after that and traffic is slow. We eventually come to an intersection where there’s giant ‘HERSHEY’S’ in some sort of plant life on either side of the crossing road, so I guess we must actually be close now. The intersection after that has a small sign that actually says “Hersheypark” and then almost immediately after, there’s a giant blue sign with an arrow to the right for “Hersheypark & Attractions”. Cassie merges into the right lane and then we’re at another intersection with a huge sign next to it and I can actually see roller coasters in the distance.

After the turn we keep right and get in line to pay for parking. “Is one of you going to volunteer to pay for this or do you all owe me five more dollars?”

“Huh?”

“It’s fifteen bucks to park,” she says.

“Why don’t we all just give you a five now?” Benji says, pulling out his wallet.

“That works, too.” That’s what we do and she pays for the parking. They give her a little square paper ticket that she puts on the dashboard and we follow the road the whole way out around some sports complex and back under the road we entered on. We’re directed into the lot soon after that and then Cassie finds a parking spot.

“We’re taking the Tram,” she says when we get out and Felix and Benji both laugh a little.

“Definitely,” Felix agrees. “I mean, we’re not _that_ far, but still. If we can, we may as well.”

“Exactly my feelings,” Cassie says as we all get out. They decide to apply sunscreen first and then we walk toward a tree lined loop in the middle of the lot. When we get to the loop, there’s a bunch of other people already standing around waiting and we join them. Felix leans his head out to look down the road to the right and then reports that the tram is almost here. We all slide into one bench of the tram when it arrives and then are transported to the park.

“That,” Felix says, nudging me and pointing to the right as we go along, “is Chocolate World and we are _definitely_ going before we leave.”

“Obviously. I need weird Reese’s products I can’t find anywhere else,” Cassie says.

The tram stops on the other side of Chocolate World and we climb off. “We’re meeting at Starbucks, right?” Felix says as we start walking. Cassie nods. As we round a corner, I see the Starbucks up ahead on the left. Chris, Andrew, Teddy, and Kieran are all standing outside with cups of coffee already.

“Morning, boys!” Cassie says as we walk over. Chris greets her but the other three roll their eyes. “Anyone else here yet?”

“Val’s car got here right after us, they’re getting drinks.”

Cassie nods and then turns back to us. “Any of you want more coffee?”

I sort of make a face and wait for Felix and Benji to reply, but when no one says anything. “I’m getting more coffee,” I say and I start walking toward the building.

I hear Benji laugh and say “Me, too,” before he follows me inside. When he catches up, he says, “I was hoping I wasn’t the only weirdo that would want more coffee already.”

I laugh. “Same, though.”

Val and Linsey see us as they’re getting out of line with their drinks and wave, so we wave back as we step forward. Before we get back outside, Mitch’s car arrives, too, so we’re all ready to head for the park once we have our coffee. We keep walking down the path and then I see the ticket gates and we all get in line. “Just meet on the other side of the gates,” Chris says. “We’re staying together. This is a percussion bonding activity, not use us for a ride to Hersheypark and disappear.”

I laugh a little, but Andrew and his gremlins grumble. Once we’re all through the gates I pick up a map and everyone kind of raises an eyebrow at me. “What?”

“Put that down,” Felix says. “We _are_ your map.”

“Oh,” I say and I shove the map back into the holder.

“So, standard procedure of Comet first and then work our way in a big ol’ loop?” Cassie says and everyone seems to agree though I have no idea what she’s talking about.

The Comet turns out to be the big white wooden coaster in front of us. The entrance is all the way around and down a steep hill. “You’d think they could make this place a little flatter,” someone complains.

“What would Hersheypark be without all the hills and feeling like you’re dying by the time you get back to the car or bus though?” someone else says.

“Or the sunburn because you got stuck in line for a coaster when it was time to reapply!” Cassie adds. Everyone laughs as we get in line. “We should probably figure out seating arrangements,” Cassie says as we start to move forward. After a lot of discussion, I end up partnered with Benji, which would be great, if I wasn’t trying very hard to not have feelings for him right now.

The line only takes about 20 minutes and then we’re boarding. The seats are smaller than I’d like them to be and if it weren’t for the divider in the middle, I’m pretty sure I’d feel like I was practically in Benji’s lap. It’s a fun enough ride though. When we get off and recongregate Cassie takes charge again. “It’s Victor’s first time here, which means we should probably try to hit everything,” she says.

“You don’t have to like, do the boring stuff just for me,” I say.

“No, no. Not boring stuff. I meant all the coasters. There’s a lot, so people tend to skip some. Anyway, Skyrush?”

“YES! It’s my favorite,” Felix says and he takes off to the right and the rest of us follow. Skyrush is apparently the yellow track that weaves in and out of The Comet.

“Are we keeping the same seat buddies all day, or?” Cassie says. Everyone sort of shrugs and says ‘why not’ or some iteration thereof and I sort of die a little inside.

“This is a four-person one, right?” Sue asks and a couple people nod and then we try to agree which twosomes are riding together. Benji and I end up with Felix and Cassie in our row and everyone insists that I have to take an end seat to get the full experience. Benji sits next to me and then Felix with Cassie on the other end. When we get off almost an hour after we got in line, everyone walks toward the picture station. No one buys any this time which Cassie, Felix, and I chuckle about.

“What’s funny?” Benji says.

I shake my head a little. “When we were at Knoebel’s the other week, Mia bought literally every picture. It was both hilarious and ridiculous.”

“She just wanted a bunch of pictures of you for her room and you know it,” Felix says and he punches my arm. I roll my eyes.

“Are we doing the Looper?” Val asks and gestures.

“It’s a classic, Victor needs to experience it,” Cassie decides and we get in line. Or well, we get into where the line would be. We basically walk right onto the ride at the platform. It’s a really old steel coaster and there’s only a lap bar restraint system, but there’s apparently a loop. This seems dangerous, but I guess they’ve all survived it before.”

After we finish that one, we cross a bridge and walk up another enormous hill. “Is it too cold for the coal cracker?” Ally asks. Everyone kind of shrugs.

“You don’t get that wet,” Felix says. I look around and figure out that the Coal Cracker is apparently a log flume type ride but the boats are shaped like coal cars instead of logs for whatever reason.

“True, let’s go,” Chris says and we get in line. “Do we want to reorganize for this one. I know some of y’all probably don’t wanna lean all up on your friends or sit between their legs,” he says with a laugh, putting an arm around Val’s shoulders as we reach the end of the line, part way up a set of stairs. Most people decide there’s no one here they’re comfortable sitting with, except of course our two couples and then…

“We literally sat together on this last year,” Felix says bumping Cassie’s shoulder.

“I’m pro at holding myself forward so I don’t crush you. We got this,” she laughs.

Benji bites his lip and glances at me. “I’ll sit by myself. I know that would probably be weird or whatever.”

“Honestly, I don’t care,” I say with a shrug. “You can sit with me if you want.”

He makes a face but shrugs and nods and I almost immediately regret that decision, but I guess I can’t take it back now, so I resign myself to just not thinking about it. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so nice. When we get to the platform, Benji nudges my shoulder. “You’re sure? I can really sit alone.”

“Stop, it’s fine,” I say again even though that was a perfect out. We end up in the front section of the boat with Cassie and Felix behind us and it’s a little cramped even before we’re going up a hill with Benji sitting between my knees. First thing after we leave the station is a giant lift hill and Benji makes a point to hold the hand rails and pull himself forward. “You’re being ridiculous,” I tell him quietly because I’m not sure I want Cassie and Felix to hear that.

“What?”

“You’re not going to crush me or whatever. Mia was doing the same thing at Knoebel’s. It’s ridiculous. You’ll tire yourself out for no reason.”

“I mean, I feel like it’s a little different with Mia versus me,” he says and he keeps holding himself forward.

“Whatever, just know I don’t care and you’re doing that to yourself.”

He takes a breath and I mean, we’re almost to the top now, but he lets go slowly and falls backwards into me and I chuckle a little. “Thanks,” he says quietly. “You’re like the only person that’s ever said that or honestly let me ride with them. Other than Lucy but she doesn’t count; we’ve been friends since Kindergarten.”

I laugh a little. “Sorry that everyone else around here is a shit friend?” He laughs a little, too, but then sighs.

“It’s not that,” he says quietly as we reach the top of the hill and I know what he’s saying and it kind of breaks my heart. “Before I came out, people would sit with me, but since that happened, well…”

“I’m sorry. People are stupid. I mean, why should it matter that you like guys. I mean, just because you like guys in general, doesn’t mean you like every guy. That’s like saying a straight guy likes every girl in existence. It just doesn’t make sense.”

He nods a little. “Yeah. I wish everyone else understood that.”

“While I admire that you two can have such a philosophical conversation on this ride,” Cassie says from behind me. “Why are we not rocking this boat more?” Then I feel the boat rock side-to-side a little and roll my eyes as I lean back and forth, too. The trough weaves around a few times way up in the air and then there’s another tiny lift hill before we turn around and get sent down the giant drop. There’s a camera flash halfway down and we all get a little damp at the bottom before we pull back into the station and climb off the boat.

We meet up with everyone else at the picture station and laugh at Ally turning around to kiss Mitch in their picture. Christina was sitting in front of them and completely oblivious to what was going on behind her, apparently. I actually like our picture, but I’m not spending money on that. Andrew seems to notice ours, too, because he gives me a look with a raised eyebrow and I just roll my eyes and look away from him. If I had to put money on it, I’d bet Andrew was one of the ones that gave Benji the hardest time after he came out, but I’m not going to ask that question. After the Coal Cracker we walk around a corner and up a little incline to another coaster called ‘The Great Bear.’

It’s another four people in a row situation so I again end up in an end seat next to Benji with Cassie and Felix on the other end. I actually really enjoy this one. It’s one of those suspended coasters where nothing’s under your feet. We go over the little creek and through a few loops and rolls and right as we pull into the station, it takes our picture. We check out our pictures on the way out and we all look kind of ridiculous and wind-blown.

“Is anyone hungry?” Cassie asks once we’ve laughed at all the pictures equally.

“Actually, yeah,” someone says and everyone else kind of agrees so we end up going to this food court nearby and getting lunch.

I sit down at a table next to Benji and he smiles at me, so I smile back. We talk while we eat and honestly, Benji is so incredibly easy to talk to; I sometimes feel like I could tell him my deepest darkest secrets and not even think twice about it and then I realize my deepest darkest secrets basically consist of me liking him and think that’s probably not true after all. When he goes to take his tray to the trashcan, he accidentally leaves his wallet on the table, so I pick it up and carry it over to him when I take my tray. “Hey, you forgot this,” I say when I hand it to him.

“Oops,” he says and he flips it over before shoving it in his back pocket. That’s when I realize there’s a driver’s license in the other side. “I thought you didn’t have your license?” I say as we start walking.

“Right, uh, yeah, so I actually got my license in May, but on Memorial Day weekend, I got caught walking home drunk and got an underage charge which immediately suspends your license for ninety days even if driving wasn’t involved.”

“Oh,” I say quietly.

“It’s kind of a long story, to be fair,” he says and I swear he’s staring into my soul when he talks. “It’s weird because I actually want to tell you about it, and I never tell anyone about that, but not here. Not now. And not with those jerks this nearby.” He nods toward Andrew, Teddy, and Kieran. I nod, too.

“Okay. You don’t have to tell me at all,” I say. “I just thought it was odd.”

“He nods. I only had the thing for two weeks. Kind of a shame. I mean, it’s not like I have a car anyway, but still.”

“Are you two having another philosophical conversation in a weird place?” Cassie says walking over and we both kind of laugh.

“Um, something like that,” I say.

“Well, stop being weird. Let’s go. We’re making you ride the Kissing Tower,” she says and she walks away, back toward everyone else.

“Kissing Tower?” I ask Benji with raised eyebrows.

“Yeah, uh, it’s just like an observation tower with Hershey Kiss shaped windows. Apparently, you’re supposed to kiss someone at the top or something,” he says and he rolls his eyes and then glances back at my face for a second and I swear his eyes are on my lips. My heart sort of stops for a moment before it takes off at a frantic pace. I only hope he can’t hear that as we hurry to follow everyone else.

We cross an area with a large fountain in the middle and then the capsule is landing as we arrive in line. A long string of people stream off the ride and then we’re let on. “Keep moving please. Go the whole way around. Fill every seat,” the worker says, and so we do. I end up sitting between Benji and Felix and we’re sort of crushed close together.

“For your safety, please remain seated during the ride and refrain from leaning on the doors or Hershey’s Kisses shaped windows. Thank you and enjoy your ride.” a voice says as we start to rise and we’re moving quicker than I anticipated we would. The voice continues to make announcements as we rise higher and higher. First about the ride itself and then about the park around us, Chocolate World, and other local attractions. I mostly just ignore it though. I’m trying to actually look at everything. At one point I hear Benji chuckling next to me and I realize I’m leaning pretty far forward, so I scoot back and can feel myself blushing. He laughs a little more.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been here with someone that had never been before,” he says.

“Well, feel free to laugh at me,” I say and then I glance at him and he’s smiling at me, so I smile back. Until I see Andrew on his other side giving me a weird look again. Then, I close my eyes and take a deep breath as I turn back toward the window. “How many more coasters are there?” I ask to my left as we keep circle and start to drop.

“A bunch!” Felix says.

“Helpful, Felix.”

“Uh, I mean. Trailblazer…”

“We’re not doing that,” Cassie says. “I refuse. It hurts my knees.” Everyone else sort of laughs and agrees.

“Storm Runner,” Felix list and everyone nods. “Sidewinder?” he says hesitantly, looking at Cassie as if to ask if that was being skipped, too.

“Hurts my head, but we’ll do it for Victor’s sake,” Cassie says.

“Lightning Racer which should count as two,” Felix says.

“Huh? Why?”

“Because it’s two parallel coasters that racer!”

“We’re totally doing half of us on one side and the other half on the other, right?” Mitch says from Cassie’s other side.

“Obviously,” Cassie says.

“Uh, the wild mouse if we want to do that? Wildcat, Fahrenheit.”

“As long as we don’t get stuck on the Wildcat this year,” Cassie groans and I raise an eyebrow. “Okay, that only happened once and it was elementary band camp after like fifth or sixth grade, but still.”

“What happened?”

“Uh, my grandfather was chaperoning and it was just me, him, and Emilee in our group because no one liked us. But, anyway, we went on the Wildcat in the middle of the afternoon. Emilee convinced us to ride in the back two seats even though my grandfather and I are typically front-seat people. I was in the very back with Emilee and the damn thing broke down just as we were pulling into the station so we were still out in the sun and I got a _horrible_ sunburn. Actual worst Hersheypark experience ever, and that includes the year is monsooned the day we were here with middle school band.”

That’s when we reach the bottom and we’re directed to follow the line of people back around the whole circle to exit the ride. We walk up a hill toward what appears to be three different heights of free fall towers. “Does anyone actually want to do the Triple Towers?”

“No, but can we go to the zoo?” Ally says and gestures to the right.

“I don’t think we have time,” Cassie says and she pulls her phone out. “I mean it’s already almost 3.”

“We have seven hours.”

“And almost as many roller coasters.”

“Fine. But we’re going when we come for Wind Ensemble,” Ally relents.

“I can agree to that,” Cassie says and we keep walking. “No one said anything about the towers?” She looks around and everyone kind of shrugs, welp, now towers then. We walk down a really steep hill and it smells amazing, like actual barbecue at the bottom.

“Okay, what is that smell? It’s glorious,” I say.

Benji and Felix both laugh and then Felix points to a stand across the way. “Barbeque. Stupidly overpriced, but so very delicious. Maybe next time.”

I sniff the air a little more as we walk past and then we’re walking up an even steeper hill. “Jesus Christ these hills,” I say when we get to the top and everyone laughs.

“I think that one may be the worst in the whole park,” Linsey says and then we all turn to the right and get into line for another coaster called Storm Runner. I sit with Benji again and this one is really awesome. It has a hydraulic launch that goes zero to seventy-two miles per hour in two seconds and even though it’s over in about a minute, it’s a rush and it’s pretty amazing.

The next one is right around the corner and called The Sidewinder. It cranks you backwards up a hill and then releases you into the ride which ends with a steep hill before dropping you backwards through the whole thing again. I can see why Cassie said it hurts her head, though. It sort of shakes you all around as you go as if the Track was a gravel road or something.

When we get off, we walk down another bath and then I can see the waterpark to our right and another roller coaster with an orange track to the left. “Should we do Fahrenheit now or on the way back?” Cassie says.

“It’s a good dry off line and ride if we go hit the back corner and come back for Tidal Force and then that,” someone says; I don’t see who.

“Are we _doing_ Tidal Force?” Felix asks.

“I think it’s warm enough, but we have to do it soon,” Cassie says. “Want to do that right now? And then the back corner and we can come back across to head out?”

There’s a vague sense of agreement and we head to the right into the waterpark zone. “I strongly suggest lockers before this,” Cassie says and points to where there’s a building with storage lockers on the left. Everyone else agrees and we fit our stuff into as few lockers as possible before cross the path and getting in line. That’s when I see what we’re in line _for_ and consider backing out.

“Didn’t realize I was going to get completely soaked,” I say looking down at my clothing choices. Everyone kind of laughs. I’m wearing a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt, but I also have sneakers and socks on and that’s just going to be gross. “Am I like allowed to take my shoes off?”

“No and that’s gross,” Cassie says. I look and she’s wearing sneakers, too.

“Do you _not_ hate wet socks?”

“They’ll dry quick enough with a couple roller coasters!” Everyone sort of laughs as we wind through the barriers. We sit four to a row on the massive boat and I’m yet again next to Benji on an end. The boat clicks up a giant hill and then goes around a turn before the drop. By the time we’re back in the station I don’t think there’s a dry spec on any of us. The glasses wearers among us are all complaining that they can’t see.

We climb a set of stairs out of the ride and everyone stops to hold onto the railings. “What are we doing?” I ask Benji quietly and he chuckles.

“Getting wet again, because why not!”

“Huh?”

“The giant wave from the next boat will come right over the bridge so you get just as wet again. It’s sort of dumb, but also why not, like I said.” I grab onto the railing next to Benji and he smiles at me, so I smile back. Then I turn back toward the ride and see the next boat starting to descend. “Hold on,” he whispers, nudging my shoulder a little. I nod and tighten my grasp though I’m not sure why. I’m only not sure until the wave hits. The water pressure is so much that it almost stings and I lose my balance even though I’m holding on. Benji chuckles and grabs my arm to help me stay upright.

“Thanks,” I say when I’m finally stable on my feet.

He smirks. “No problem.” Then we follow everyone else off the bridge and back across the path toward the orange-tracked coaster which is apparently Fahrenheit.

The line’s long; longer than any of the other’s have been today, but we eventually make it to the platform and onto the ride. I swear the lift hill is almost vertical and then I think the first drop might actually _be_ vertical. There’s plenty of loops, twists, and inversion and I see what Cassie meant about it drying you off. After we get off the ride we go back to the lockers near Tidal Force and retrieve our larger items before continuing in that direction. We pass a wooden coaster called the “Wildcat” that I’m assure we’ll return for and we walk past a Wild Mouse without anyone even saying anything. We eventually get to a plaza that has a ferris wheel similar to the one at Knoebel’s, another wooden coaster, and some smaller rides.

“Lightning Racer!” Felix says and we all head toward the coaster. The line is kind of long but it moves quickly and soon we’re on the platform. I end up on a the ‘Lightning’ track, next to Benji and it’s actually a really good ride, too. I really like this place. After the coaster spits us out in a gift shop because of course it does, someone wants to ride the “Music Express” which turns out to be the same thing as the Cosmotron at Knoebel’s but outside.

“You’re sure you’re okay with this?” Benji says for probably the fifth time when he climbs into a seat.

“Please stop worrying,” I say. “I really don’t care.” And then I sit down next him. The thing is, I do care. I care a lot; just not in the way he’s worried about. As the ride starts to move, I feel Benji consciously shift closer to me, but I don’t say anything. When the ride gains enough speed, he has no choice but to lean against me and I might smile, but I definitely look the other direction so he can’t see that. The ride slows and then it goes backwards for a little while before coming to an actual stop.

“Ferris Wheel or no?” Cassie asks once we’re off the ride. Everyone agrees on no, so we head to the right. We end up at a ride called “Laff Trakk” that appears to be inside.

“So, what is this?” I ask when we’re in line.

“A coaster, kind of,” Felix says. “I mean it is, but it’s also a dark ride and it spins and everything glows in the dark.”

“First of its kind in the country,” Benji supplies.

“Right, I think I remember them saying that,” Felix says.

The ride’s fun, but it’s a little weird. After that we actually ride the Wildcat and it’s definitely a high-quality ride. Someone complains that they’re hungry as we’re leaving, so when we get back through the waterpark area, we go over near the Sidewinder where there’s a bunch of food places clumped together. “What the hell is Chickie’s and Pete’s? I ask.

“Um, amazing. That’s what you’re getting,” Cassie says and grabs my arm to drag me after her. I laugh and glance at Benji. He chuckles and follows us.

“I understand, you’re making me eat it, but what _is_ it?”

“Chicken sandwiches or burgers and _Crabfries_ ,” she says.

“Crabfries?” Cassie puts her head in her hand. “Yes, Victor. Trust me on this one. Chickie’s and Pete’s is literally the only Philly thing I appreciate. That’s a lie. Cheesesteaks are good, too. But Primanti’s sandwiches are better.”

“Did you really just say Primanti’s is better than a real Philly cheesesteak?” Benji says and he’s giving Cassie a look that says she’s crazy.

Cassie rolls her eyes. “It is and I will not argue with you or any other Philly-loyalist about it.” She harumphs a little and turns back around to move forward in line.

“You can call me a Philly-loyalist all you want, but you’re a Pittsburgh-loyalist and you know it,” Benji says and Cassie laughs.

“I bleed Black and Gold, Benjamin. Not my fault it’s in my blood.”

Benji rolls his eyes and shakes his head, but doesn’t try to argue. “I’m lost,” I say. Benji laughs and looks at me.

“Cassie’s family is from Western PA or something, so she’s extremely biased towards anything Pittsburgh-based; most notably the Steelers and Primanti’s.”

“What’s Primanti’s?” I ask, but I guess I shouldn’t have because Cassie turns around and gapes at me for a minute before shaking her head.

“Only the greatest restaurant to ever exist. The fries are _on_ your sandwich and it’s on thick cut Italian bread with provolone cheese and everything about it is glorious. Plus, they have the best wings. It’s a Pittsburgh institution and they finally put one in Lancaster.”

“Like I said,” Benji says with an eyeroll.

“We should go. Let me figure out my work schedule and then we should totally go. You can bring Mia and I’ll force Shawn to come. It’ll be fun.”

_Oh, right._ Mia exists and I’m apparently taking her on a date in two days. Honestly, after spending the past how many ever hours with Benji, I’m kind of regretting that life choice, because this feels completely different than Knoebel’s with Mia did, in a way that makes me think about things in a new light. Maybe I don’t actually like Mia after all. I sigh a little and Benji gives me a concerned look. I shake my head at him and he nods once.


	28. Part 6K - Percussion Bonding at Hersheypark, Part 2

After everyone finishes eating, we go a backway out of the area we’re in and past a couple kiddie ride and over some train tracks. “Do we wanna ride the claw?” Cassie asks and points across the way to ride.

“Right after dinner?” Felix asks and Cassie shrugs.

“We don’t have to, but it’s right there.”

“Oh, whatever, but if I vomit, it’s your fault.”

“Just don’t vomit on me,” Cassie says and we all start heading toward the line. When we get closer, I realize it’s a similar concept to the Fandango at Knoebel’s but you sit facing inward in separated groups of four instead of outward in one big circle. The line’s a little long, which is probably good because it gives everyone’s food time to settle.

I’m actually a little dizzy when we get off and Benji chuckles as I stumble, but he reaches out to grab my arm to stop me from actually falling. “Is my position in life to just keep you on your feet now?” he says quietly and I laugh.

“Maybe.” But I actually think his position might be to knock me _off_ my feet instead and I don’t know what my face is doing while I think about that but it must be doing something because Benji’s smirking at me when I glance back at him.

Our next stop in the monorail. There isn’t much of a line but the path to get to the platform is long and at an incline, so half the group is complaining when we reach the top. We get into the train that’s waiting and settle in. I sit next to Benji and across from Cassie and Felix in one section and then there’s three more sections of four to complete our group. The little doors close automatically and then we start to move. There’s narration as we move. It’s a lady’s voice and honestly, she’s a little grating after a while. No one else seems to be listening at all, but I’m trying to pay attention.

The ride goes through the park and then across some parking lots that I guess are for the actual chocolate factory and then we’re going through that zoo people were talking about before crossing back into the park. When we get off the monorail the next ride on the list is called “Reese’s Cupfusion” and we have to put all our things in lockers outside the entrance before get get in line. It’s another one that’s inside a building. This one is interactive. We sit in pods of four and each have a laser gun that we can aim at various targets throughout the ride and it’s actually really fun, even if the narration is a little lame.

Once we all get our things back, Cassie says something about how we’re almost back to the entrance. “Did we miss anything? Anything specific anyone wants to ride yet?” There’s a lot of shrug and indifference. “So Chocolate World?” she says and that seems to get everyone excited again so we turn right and head around the corner toward the exit. “Wait, Kettlecorn first!” Cassie says, pointing to shop selling said wonderment and we all walk that direction. I buy some, too, to take home for Pilar; it’s her favorite and I hope maybe it’ll cheer her up a little bit.

After we have kettle, which a couple people bought in bags almost as tall as they are, we head toward the exit. We follow the path up to the left and into Chocolate World where I am immediately overwhelmed and I guess that must be written all over my face, because Cassie, Felix, and Benji all chuckle at me. “Take a minute,” Benji says through a smirk. “Remember to breath. You haven’t even gotten to the best part yet.” My eyes go wide and he laughs “Nope. Ride first.”

We get into the line for the “Chocolate Tour” and I sort of eye everyone, but they don’t seem to notice so I just silently follow along. The path to the ride is long and weaving with random information on the walls. When we finally board, we’re seated in these odd little pods with two rows that can probably hold at least four people each. I sit in the front of a pod between Benji and Felix. Cassie, Ally, and Mitch sit behind us. The ride starts and there’s these weird animatronic cows that sing? And then they’re all singing along and I’m so lost, so I start laughing and Benji nudges me and sings louder as we move to the next room, so I just laugh louder, too. As we go around the corner, Benji nods to the left and I look over to see a tiny baby animatronic cow with a name plate that says “Cupcake” and it’s actually kind of adorable.

A voice that I assume is supposed to Cupcake tells us to, “Have fun at the factory, everybody!” I look up to see a lit sign that says “Hershey’s Chocolate Factory” over the entrance to the next room. As we go through the doors, the little screen in front of us on the pod comes to life a lady in a lab coat appears. While the actual factory tour part is interesting to me, everyone else is acting like they’ve seen a million times and talking to each other instead. And when I think about it, I realize they probably have.

We go through this tunnel that’s glowing red and it’s oddly warmer inside. “What the fuck?”

Everyone laughs. “I keep forgetting you’ve never done this before,” Benji says and nudges me with his shoulder before everyone starts talking again. In the next room an animated version of a anthropomorphized Hershey bar tells us about the next step and it’s a little weird. They’re all still talking.

“Shush, guys, you’re distracting Victor from _the experience,_ ” Felix says after a little bit and I laugh.

“Oh right, he hasn’t been on this thing multiple times per year since he was an infant. Forgot about that,” Mitch says and they all laugh again.

“I mean, this is a pretty good iteration at least.” Ally says.

“Not like when the last room had all those real bags of candy and someone tried to steal one on our band trip. Who was that even? Do any of you remember?” Cassie says.

“Oh my _God_ ,” Benji says, turning around to look at her. “I definitely remember that happening, but I have no clue who it was.”

“I feel like it was middle school and someone not in band anymore, right?”

“I think that’s probably true, so it must have been your eighth-grade year and my seventh,” Benji surmises and Cassie hums in agreement.

“That means I must have been there, too,” Mitch says and it sounds like he’s thinking.

“Maybe you didn’t come to Chocolate World? Because I don’t think Garrett ever found out. The person didn’t like get in trouble with him or school or whatever; they just got yelled at by the people here and they took the candy back.”

“Hmm,” Mitch says. “Maybe.”

We’re going past giant rollers covered in chocolate now and it actually smells like chocolate. In the next room an animated Hershey Kiss narrates the next step of the process. Then we’re in a room with statues of the anthropomorphized candy bars sitting around and oodles of what looks like actual candy on conveyor belts. “This the room we were talking about,” Benji whispers. “There used to be bigger bags of candy and they were a lot closer and higher up. Pretty sure whoever the hell that was is the reason they changed it, to be fair.” I laugh a little.

There’re bottles of chocolate syrup on the right and conveyor belts full of oodles of Hershey kisses on the left and it’s all a little weird, especially the color scheme. “I highly doubt the actual factory is painted in these bright colors.” They all laugh. The ride takes our picture as we exit that room and then the last room is just random social media posts people have made and tagged Chocolate World in, I guess. There’s this song playing that may be the most repetitive thing in the universe, but they all start singing along again and I laugh. When we get into the boarding area the doors of the car open automatically and we’re directed out by a staff member.

We have to climb a set of stairs and follow a long path to get out of the ride, but as we’re crossing a bridge over what looks like a food court there’s another staff member passing out bit size candy bars to each person walking by. After we have our candy and are walking down the stairs, Cassie pulls out her phone. “Oh good, plenty of time. Actually, you three, curfews? When do I need to have you home?” she says, turning around to walk backwards in front of me, Felix, and Benji.

“Midnight,” I say.

“Same,” Benji says, “but flexible if I text my mom a solid excuse.”

“Uh, I don’t really have a curfew,” Felix says and he shrugs.

“Perfect. Then we have time.”

“Time _for_?” I ask.

She rolls her eyes. “Well, I want a cookie and my mom may murder me if I don’t bring her one, too, and I promised Shawn a heath one which I just remembered luckily. Crickets, I might actually be trying to get myself murdered tonight.” She laughs. “I also might kind of want a milkshake… Plus I need to investigate the giant section of Reese’s products and buy way more candy than any one person needs.” We’re walking away from the food court and into what seems to be giftshop.

“Want to look around?” Benji says and I shrug. “I’ll come with you and explain all the weird stuff if you want.”

I laugh. “You don’t need a cookie or a milkshake or buttloads of candy?”

He laughs, too. “Eh, I do, but we have plenty of time. It’s not even ten.”

“Don’t they _close_ at ten?”

“The park does. Chocolate World is open until eleven.”

“Oh, sweet,” I say and then I walk toward the souvenirs with Benji right behind me. I actually end up picking out an overpriced hoodie; partially because it’s neat and mostly because I’m cold. It’s already dropped into the sixties. Then we go over to the candy section and _holy shit_. There’re chocolate bars the size of cars and every Hershey’s product to ever exist; including some I’ve never even heard of before. Benji points out the best options and I end up doing a thing where you get five bags of mini candy for $20.

“Let’s get in line before you buy the whole store,” he suggests after picking up some candy for himself and I quickly agree.

After we pay Benji leads me back toward the food court and insists like everyone else in the universe that I need to get a cookie. And the cookie place also has hot chocolate, so I’m totally in. I pick out a cookie that sounds good after Benji refuses to tell me which ones are best because “They’re all amazing, Victor, just pick one,” and then I pick out three more to take home to my parents and sister. After I pay, we’re looking for a table and see Felix eating a cookie at a table by himself so decide to join him. Once we sit down, I sip at the hot chocolate and it’s _really good_ , which shouldn’t be as surprising as it is; we’re literally in a place called _Chocolate World_ right now. Then I shiver.

“Did you seriously just shiver?” Felix asks with a chuckle.

“It’s possible,” I say and then I pull the hoodie out of my bag and start trying to rip the tags off. Benji rolls his eyes and pulls a pocket knife out of his pocket and hands it to me. “Thanks,” I say and he smiles at me and nods a little. I quickly get all the tags off the hoodie and hand Benji his pocket knife back. Then I put the hoodie on and Felix rolls his eyes at me.

“Leave him alone,” Benji says and Felix laughs.

“That Texas blood can’t handle the upper sixties in summer; just wait ‘til it meets the single digits… or better yet, below zero windchills.”

“ _Below zero_?” I groan.

“Yeah, that definitely happens,” Felix says and I sigh.

“I hate it. I wanna go home.”

“Okay, let’s go!” Cassie says as she shows up next to us.

We all laugh. “Not exactly what I was talking about, but sure,” I say as we all get to our feet to follow her from chocolate world. We pass Chris and Val on our way and tell them we’re leaving. We don’t see anyone from Mitch’s car though, so Cassie sends Ally a text and she says they’re already waiting for the tram. They must get the tram before we get to the stop, because they’re nowhere to be seen once we’re waiting for the next one to arrive.

When we get off the tram a few minutes later, it’s a bit of an argument as to where we’re parked before Felix actually sees Cassie’s car and points to it, saving the day. Once we’re back in the car, with way too many bags including the giant ones of kettlecorn and ones containing far too much chocolate, Cassie asks if our seatbelts are on and once we confirm they are, she backs out of the parking lot.

“Don’t yell at me, I’m going the back way,” Cassie says when we exit the parking lot and she merges into the right lane.

Felix laughs. “You know me so well.”

Cassie snorts. “I’ve been dealing with your ass for over a year now, Felix, I have you on lock.” He laughs again and Benji smirks at me and rolls his eyes. I bite my lip and smile at him.

Felix requests the radio turned off while we’re still waiting on the light out of the Hershey complex and Cassie gives him a look but presses the button. Benji rolls his eyes at me again, but then it dawns on me and I pull out my phone and the case containing my air pods. I offer him one of the ear pieces and he takes it. I open my phone and scroll to my music collection. “Actually, here, you pick the music,” I say quietly and I hand the phone to him. I kind of want to see what Benji’s taste in music is. He wears a lot of band t-shirts from the 80s, but who really knows.

The light finally changes and Cassie turns right onto the main road. I see why she told Felix not to yell at her, we’re going the opposite direction of how we got here. We go past the parking lot and the back end of the park.

Benji looks at my phone screen for a second and then he bites back a snort. “ _Baby Shark_ is your most listened to song?” he says and I freeze for a second.

Felix turns around in his seat, too and stares at me. I sigh. “I used to play it for my little cousins all the time back in Texas,” I say.

“Uh huh,” Benji says and he’s still looking at me.

“And I may also find it’s predictability soothing.” They all laugh and I roll my eyes. “Can you just pick a song and stop making fun of me?”

Benji bites his lip and laughs a little as he goes back to scrolling.

Cassie makes a right at the light after the park and the road seems to cut diagonally behind the other side of the park.

Then I go back to watching as he scrolls. He pauses, raises an eyebrow and presses play. Then the opening bars of Carly Rae Jepsen’s smash hit “Call Me Maybe” are playing in my right ear and I bite back a laugh. Benji dances in his seat and starts singing along.

“Okay, you’re making fun of me right now,” I say. “Call Me Maybe was my _jam_ when I was little. I made up this whole dance; used to crack my mom up.”

He gives me a look. “I’ve gotta see that sometime.”

I shake my head. “All I remember is it involved a lot of spinning and rump shaking.” I try not to laugh at my own ridiculousness, but Benji’s giving me a look with a raised eyebrow and fighting back laughter of his own.

“Okay, so I _definitely_ need to see that. Tomorrow at practice. It’s happening.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Don’t make poor Victor embarrass himself in front of Mia before he can even get her on a date,” Cassie says. “But, yeah, we definitely need to see that sometime, buddy.”

“I hate all of you,” I say and I cross my arms and stare out the window; almost forgetting that Benji is still holding my phone until I hear it vibrate in his hands.

“Oh, look who it is,” he says as he hands me the phone.

“Huh?” I say and I look at the screen to see a text from Mia. _Oh right, her._ I read the message and quickly respond.

“So, where are you taking her on your date anyway?” Benji asks.

“Cassie’s idea, but dinner and a movie, I think. Wait, what was that restaurant called again? I need to figure out where it is and whatever. I also still need to look at movie times,” I realize and then I sigh.

“The Pressed Plate,” Cassie says and we’re waiting to turn left at a light when I look up.

“Not bad,” Benji says with a nod. “What movie?”

“Again, I haven’t even looked.”

“You’re holding the entire internet in your hand, man,” he says and nods to my phone.

“Oh, right.” I open the safari app and type in Ephrata movie theatre. “It’s ‘The New Main’ right?”

“Yep,” Cassie says as she makes the turn; I realize a second later we’ve come out back near Hershey High School. “Penn of Penn Cinema fame bought it a couple years ago and really spruced the place up. It’s a lot cheaper than actually going to Penn, too.”

“I kind of assumed Penn Cinema was called that because Pennsylvania,” I say.

Cassie chuckles. “Most people do, but nah, it’s the guy’s name. Anyway, what movies do they got to choose from? Gotta make a good choice here Victor, your romantic future is counting on you.”

_Is it?_ I wonder to myself, but after today, I don’t know if I even want to go on this date at all. “Looks like the new Lion King is playing and Spider-Man. I feel like the Lion King is the right choice between the two.”

“Definitely,” comes a resounding agreement, so I check the times and buy two tickets for the 6:30 showing. Then I flip back to my music and find a better song to play. Benji smiles at me when the song starts and I smile back. Everyone is quiet again as Cassie drives. We go back through the boarding school campus and its roundabouts and then we go through the farmland the woods until we’re almost home. When we’re actually getting into town Cassie tells Benji that’s she’s actually driving him home because she refuses to let him walk alone at this hour and he rolls his eyes but doesn’t put up much of a fight. It’s almost 11:45 when she parks in front of my apartment building and at least this time, Felix is still awake. Felix and Cassie both get out and pull their seats forward. Cassie, so I can get out and Felix so Benji can move to the front seat for the rest of the drive.

“See ya tomorrow,” Benji says as our eyes meet when I walk around the car.

“Yeah, see ya,” I say and I smile at him and he smiles back. Felix waves and takes off toward his building as I walk toward the door of mine.

“VICTOR!” I hear behind me and turn around to find Benji jogging toward me. I tilt my head at him, but then he holds out one of my air pods. “You might want that.”

I laugh. “ _God_ , I’m so tired. Thank you.”

“No problem, see ya tomorrow,” he says again and I nod and smile at him. I swear his eyes flicker to my lips for a second and mine definitely don't flicker to his, too. He smiles a little and then turns to walk back to Cassie’s car which has the passenger door standing open at the curb.

When I get into the apartment, I sort of assume everyone’s going to be in bed, but that’s not the case. My mom is standing in the living room and it looks like she was just out on the balcony. “Were you spying on me?” I say with a laugh and I'm really glad it's as late and therefore dark as it is all of a sudden.

She shrugs. “Who’s that other boy?” she asks. “I don’t think I’ve met him.”

“Uh, Benji? He’s a junior. He’s the other snare player? One of my section leaders…”

“Oh,” she says and then she nods. “What did you forget in the car?”

I roll my eyes. “One of my air pods. We were listening to music on my phone on the drive back, so he had one and I completely forgot to get it back when we got here.”

She raises an eyebrow, but nods once. “Well, I just wanted to make sure you got home safely. I’m going to bed now. Try to get some sleep.”

I nod a little. “Yeah, I’m just gonna shower and then right to bed, promise.”

She smiles at me and then walks back the hall to her room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two more chapters in this part!


	29. Part 6L - Last Rehearsal Before Camp (7/25)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter was published on Marching Band Day (March Fo(u)rth!) and is therefore superior to all other chapters.
> 
> It's not actually amazing or anything, just another summer rehearsal with some fun Venji conversations and Victor being an awkward mess.

On Thursday morning at breakfast, I provide my family with the cookies purchased the night before as well as handing Pilar the bag of kettlecorn. I swear, she looks like she might hug me and it makes me laugh. And then I tell them, “So, I’m, uh, going on a date tomorrow afternoon/evening.”

Both of my parents look at me with rapt attention, especially my dad. Pilar raises an eyebrow. “With the Mia girl?” my dad asks and I nod. “Ooooh, where are you taking her?”

I laugh a little. “Uh, this restaurant Cassie and Felix recommended downtown and then we’re going to go see the new Lion King movie.”

“Classic dinner and a movie first date,” my dad says with a nod. “Well, good luck, Macho.”

I roll my eyes. “Thanks, Dad. Uh, anyway, I’m going to go get ready so Felix and I can get started with our lawn mowing.” I don’t wait for a response as I stand up from the table and drop my plate in the sink before heading to my room.

It’s still in the seventies when we first start out and it only makes it to the mid-eighties by the height of the afternoon, so we get a lot done before we both head home for dinner. Then at 5:30, it’s still eighty-two and we head for the school. We’re reminded upon arrival that we’re starting off with warm-ups and then a parade rehearsal, so Felix and I both head to the closet. Benji and Chris are already there. “Hey, guys,” Chris say and he reaches into the closet to pull out a set of cymbals for Felix while I scoot past him to grab my drum. Benji smiles at me when I step back into the hallway and I smile back. “Alright, let’s warm up over by the band room door, I guess, because the winds’ll probably arc right out front there,” Chris decides once everyone else arrives and we all nod in agreement and head toward the band room to sneak out the side door.

There’s a straggling tuba player still in the band room, pulling his instrument out of a case. I don’t recognize him, but Benji seems to. “Hey, Josh. Running late?”

The kid groans and rolls his eyes. “My mom wouldn’t let me leave until I did the dishes after dinner even though she didn’t have dinner on the table until almost five.”

“Yikes.”

When we get outside, we set up and we’re about to start our warm-up routine when the tuba player runs past toward the parking lot. After warm-ups, Mr. Fairchild pokes his head around the corner and asks to join them to set up the parade block, so we do. After a couple loops of the parking lot and play throughs of both the cadence and parade tune we’re dismissed to sectionals and told to meet in the band room for stands music work at 7:45. I pull out my phone to check the time as I’m following the rest of the line back toward the side of the building. It’s just barely seven o’clock.

Mr. Garrett joins us and we go through the closer a couple times as a full group before he tells us to go to breakouts because he wants to work with the tenors (which means he wants to tell Andrew he’s fucking it up without anyone other than Chris listening). Benji and I share a glance and chuckle under our breaths as we look around for a place to go. Finally, Benji looks at Mr. Garrett. “Hey, is it okay if we go down toward those trees or do you want us to stay near the parking lot?” he asks as he points toward the trees by the front part of the school.

“Down there’s fine, Benji, just not in front of the classroom wing, please, or between the wings. Basically, stay where we can see you,” Mr. Garrett says.

Benji nods and waves for me to follow him. He leads me into a large shaded patch in the middle of a bunch of trees near the road. “Wanna just run it once for fun?” he says and I laugh.

“Yeah, why not?”

We do that and then we just kind of look at each other and shrug before we take our drums off and sit in the grass. Benji take a drink from his water jug and then stretches his arms over head and leans backwards until he’s laying in the grass instead. I glance toward Mr. Garrett and the tenors. Chris is eyeing us with envy while Andrew is next to him apparently still messing things up. Mr. Garrett’s back is toward us though, so I stretch and lay back, too. Benji chuckles and rolls toward me onto his side, propping his head up on his hand. “So,” he says.

“So?”

“Did you enjoy your first Hersheypark experience yesterday?”

“Um, yeah, it was actually kind of awesome.”

“You sound surprised.”

“No, no. It just actually lived up to all the hype, I guess. I’m kind of itching to go back and try all the non-roller coaster rides and maybe check out that zoo…”

He chuckles a little and smiles at me. “Well, if you do wind ensemble, you’ll get to go again the first Friday of May.”

“Or so I hear.”

“What else has Felix convinced you you should do activity wise?”

I laugh. “Percussion Ensemble, which that was actually Mr. Garrett telling me about it the day I went down to the middle school to meet him and then Felix reiterating the point.”

Benji nods. “Yes. You definitely have to do that. It’s a good time.”

“You do it?”

He nods again. “What else?”

“Wind Ensemble like you said; something about missing school to go to Hersheypark…”

He laughs. “Did he mention Quiz Bowl yet?”

“He definitely said something about it and then he and Cassie were talking about things and I have no idea what they were saying.”

Benji laughs. “Well, you should do that, too, purely so I get to hang out with an extra day per week.”

I snort and _Jesus Christ._ It’s like the world just wants me to like Benji, because no matter how hard I try to distance myself from him it doesn’t work. “So, what other activities do you do?”

“Well, last year I decided to not do Concert Band and Choir because I wanted to take elective classes, but I regretted that decision all year, so I’m doing it this year. Back in first period wonderland of the music department.”

“Huh?”

“So, first period is ensembles. A good third of the school is in the music department at least; probably closer to half, honestly. I do both band and choir; or well I did freshman year and I’m going to this year. Are you only doing band?” I nod and he smiles a little. “You don’t sing?”

I shake my head. “Absolutely not.”

He cackles knowingly. “Ah, that’s going to make rookie initiation even more fun. I’m excited now.”

“What?!?!”

He laughs. “Nothing, nothing. Okay, so I’m doing band and choir. I do Wind Ensemble and I was in Camerata last year, so I’ll probably get it again.”

“What’s that?”

“The select choir that meets after school. Mrs. O let me audition last year even though I wasn’t in concert choir because she needed more guys and I was in it freshman year.”

“Oh, so you can _sing-sing_.”

He laughs. “Yeah, I guess, so. Um, I also do Percussion Ensemble, obviously, and I think I might go out for Jazz Ensemble this year? On guitar though; I’m not much of a drumset guy.”

“You play guitar, too.”

He laughs. “Yeah. I’ve played since middle school, but I actually took guitar class with Fairchild last year that’s where I was going when you were coming out of the band room the last week of school,” he says and then he freezes. “I’m sorry; it’s probably really weird that I even remember seeing you. I didn’t even know you.”

I laugh nervously. “Don’t worry about it; honestly.” If only he knew.

“And I do Quiz Bowl and the spring musical.”

“So you’re smart and can act and dance, too,” I say and I’m trying very hard to not make it sound like I’m flirting with him, though I’m not sure that I’m really not.

He chuckles, “Something like that. I was also inducted into German NHS at the end of last year so I’ll have that, too, and I’ll probably get invited to do regular NHS when they do that.” He rolls his eyes. “Honor societies are definitely my least favorite after school activities, but they look good on college applications. Oh, and this year is the Germany trip, so hopefully I can manage to swing that and Disney.”

“Wait, what?”

“You won’t be eligible yet, but there’ll be a bunch of kids from Germany here in October and then next summer some of our people will go there for three weeks, too. They do it every other year; we have a sister city and Frau Schwarz and the English teacher there organize it or whatever.” He pauses and smiles. “My house isn’t big enough to host someone though, which is kind of sad. I think Cassie volunteered to host again if they need more places even though she did the whole thing two years ago. There’s a couple other people from band planning on going, too.”

“So what? You’re just going to miss three weeks of practice next summer?”

He laughs. “Yeah. That happens every other year. There’ll probably be a handful of us not here unfortunately. Plus, the Spain trip’ll probably overlap, but they’re only gone for like ten days, I think.”

Then suddenly. “Snares what are you doing over there!?! This isn’t nap time!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Benji says, looking toward Mr. Garrett who’s now watching us, hands on his hips. We both scramble to our feet and pick up our drums. “Guess we’re supposed to be practicing or something,” he says with a laugh. Then we run through the ballad again a few times and honestly it all sounds perfectly fine, so I have no idea why we need to keep doing it. Benji pulls out his phone to check the time. “Five minutes, so I guess let’s just go inside?”

“Perfect,” I agree and we pick up our water jugs and binders from the ground before walking into the band room.

Once everyone is inside and settled, we run through the national anthem and a few iterations of the fight song before Robert starts taking requests for stands tunes. This time he actually refuses to play ‘cheer three’ out of fear and at 8:25, Mr. Fairchild tells us to be quiet for announcements. “Make sure to confirm on the bulletin board what you need to bring to the picnic on Sunday. We start at noon and go until four. Dress comfy because there will be active games and the like. Mr. Garrett and I will provide the grilling skills and hamburgers and hotdogs; you all are responsible for the rest. Alright, you’re dismissed; see you all on Sunday.”

I follow the rest of the drumline to the closet and we get everything put away as we’re walking to the lobby Benji asks, “So, what’s your family bringing on Sunday?”

“My mom’s making Puerto Rican Rice because that’s what she does for every potluck situation. I think the band in Graham was getting tired of it, so it’s y’all’s turn now. And I think she said she’d bring some sodas for the second thing since there’s two of us. I don’t really know, she told us not to worry about it because she signed up at the BPA meeting.”

He laughs and nods a little. “My mom’s making cookies, because that’s what _she_ does.”

“Your mom’s cookies were delicious when were were at your house last month, so that seems like a reasonable life choice!”

He laughs. “If you say so. I guess I’m just used to them at this point.”

When we get outside, Lucy immediately hooks her arm through Benji’s and pulls him off toward the truck. He calls out a goodbye over his shoulder and I wave as I’m joined by my sister and then almost immediately Mia. Mia smiles at me and I smile back. “Uh, so, tomorrow,” she says.

“Right!” I say because after spending another two-and-a-half hours with Benji I almost forgot about this again. “Uh, so I bought movie tickets for the Lion King at Ephrata…”

“Amazing. I’ve wanted to see that and Lake refuses to go, so _perfect_.”

I chuckle a little and smile at her. “Well, the movie’s at 6:30 and I was thinking we could go to dinner before. Cassie and Felix told me about this place near the movie theatre that they claim is great.” She tilts her head. “The Pressed Plate?” I say uncertainly.

“Oh! Yeah, no, that place is great. It’s perfect. What time did you want to meet there?”

“Maybe 4:30, so we have plenty of time before the movie?”

She smiles. “Sounds amazing.”

“Perfect. I’ll see you then, I guess.”

She smiles even more broadly. “Yeah. I’m really looking forward to it.”

“Me, too,” I say and I guess I am, but honestly, I sort of wish I was going with Benji instead of Mia. Lake arrives then to pull Mia toward her mom’s car and I wave goodbye to both of them with a little laugh. Felix arrives from the direction of the truck a few seconds later and we start the walk home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's only one more chapter in Part 6. The Date with Mia on Friday and a little bit about Saturday. Part 7 will kick off with the picnic and then the first week of band camp.


	30. Part 6M - Victor's First Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is finally, really, for real the last chapter of Part 6! Hooray!

On Friday morning, I walk into the dining room for breakfast and find my sister taking pictures of our mom who appears to have already done her make up and hair and gotten dressed way nicer than necessary. I just raise my eyebrows and drop into the chair next to Pilar. Our dad walks in a minute later.

“Good morning!” Then he looks at Mom and his eyes go wide. “Bebita! Wow! You are lookin’ good!”

_“Good?”_ my mom says almost indignantly. “This is two hours of makeup and a full blow out; the only adjectives I wanna hear are stunning, gorgeous, and…” she gasps dramatically and I roll my eyes. _How early did she wake up for whatever this is?_

Pilar looks away from her phone to our dad. “I’m making Mom a Facebook profile so she can keep in contact with everyone back in Texas.”

“Oh, Pilar. That is so nice of you,” Dad says as he walks to the table with his freshly poured cup of coffee.

“She’s paying you, isn’t she?” I say and Pilar nods.

“And there it is,” Dad says as he sits down. Then he looks at Mom. “You know, maybe we should take this new look out on the town; show it off.”

Mom turns to look at him with a raised eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“You went through all this trouble. Take ya to dinner.”

“Alright,” Mom says and then she turns to us. “You have a date, right?” I nod. “And Pilar, you can handle yourself tonight without doing anything crazy?”

She shrugs. “I was going to watch _Scream_ on facetime with Eric, but then he brutally dumped me and destroyed my ability to love another human, so I guess, I’ll figure something else out.” We all just kind of look at her awkwardly and then she goes back to taking pictures.

Felix texts me as I’m walking back to my room to tell me that he’s ready to go whenever I am, so I pull on my shorts and an old t-shirt and then put on my old sneakers and head outside. I set an alarm on my phone for two o’clock, so I have time to go home and shower before I go to meet Mia downtown. When I get outside, Felix already has both mowers pulled out and is looking at the list of addresses on his phone. He glances up at me and smiles. “So, when’s the date? How long do we have?”

“We’re meeting downtown at four-thirty, so I want to come back at two to shower and whatever,” I say and he nods.

“Plenty of time. Let’s go,” he says and we set off. The sun is shining and there’s barely a cloud in the sky; I have a feeling that if they didn’t both know I have a date tonight and it wasn’t with one of them, I’d already have two texts in my inbox asking if I wanted to go swimming. I sort of laugh a little to myself as we walk.

“Oh, did you wannna ride with us on Sunday?” I ask Felix before we separate. “I didn’t mention it to my parents yet, but I’m sure they won’t mind.”

“I mean, that’d be great. I can totally carry the brownies that far, but ya know, I’d rather not if I don’t have to. Also, you have to do at least some of the games with me! I mean, I’m sure you’ll want to do some with Mia or your sister, too, but I claim you for at least one,” he says and I sort of stare at him for a long second.

“What kind of games?”

“Three-legged race; wheelbarrow race; sack race; egg toss; water balloon toss; dizzy bat; and the like,” he says.

“I was with you until ‘dizzy bat’,” I say. “What’s that?”

“Oh, man, okay so you put your forehead on the end of a baseball bat and the other end is against the ground and then you have spin in a circle around it like 5 times without moving the bat and while keeping your head against it. Then after you’re nice and dizzy you have to run across the field pick something up and bring it back before the next person on your team goes. Everyone falls over and it’s a hoot. Maybe we can be on the same team for that, since it’s more than partners!”

I laugh. “That’s sounds horrific in the best possible way.”

“ _Exactly_ ,” he says and then he starts walking toward his assigned house. “See you after this one!”

While we’re walking to the next set of houses, I bring up the picnic again. “Everyone comes to this thing, right?” He nods. “And like parents and siblings and…”

He shrugs. “For the most part. My mom doesn’t come. Sometimes only one parent will be there if siblings have to be somewhere else or whatever. But it’s sort of required that the whole band attends. It’s the kick off for band camp. Mia’s dad didn't come last year, either; she was with Lake’s family. I think her dad travels a lot or something. People bring their significant others if they aren’t in band or graduated. Sometimes people that graduated, just show up. The Fairchildren'll be there, though, so that’s fun.”

“Huh?”

He laughs. “Right, uh, Mr. Fairchild’s kids. We call them the Fairchildren because it’s hilarious. Cassie and Jen started it when the seniors now were freshmen and it’s just stuck.”

“Oh, that’s actually adorable.”

“Right? But yeah. Mr. Garrett’s family is hit or miss because his kids are a little older and have things to do; they go to L-S so sometimes things overlap. Most of the techs and staff come to the picnic with their families though. Except Bob because he does visual for more than just us so he needs his days off and has places to be and whatever.”

I nod a little. “How many kids does Fairchild have?”

“Two. Both girls. Carly and Paige. I think Mrs. Fairchild is actually pregnant if I heard right. Not sure though. She’s on the news, you know?”

“So is Lake’s mom, isn’t she?”

“Yep. They work together. It’s kind of funny. They came out to camp and did a story on the band last year because it was a slow news week and they could.”

I laugh a little. “That’s fun, I guess.”

Felix nods a little and we turn a corner. “Alright, I’m giving you the option on this one, because the Thompsons are pretentious assholes. Nikki’s in guard; she was at Mia’s pool party?” I nod. “Anyway, do you want them or the Garmans? The Garmans are a chill old couple; just don’t let the husband start talking or he’ll never stop.”

“Uh, I guess I’ll do Nikki’s. She already hates me, so what’s it matter if her parents do, too, right?” Felix laughs and then shrugs.

“Just keep your lines perfectly straight and you shouldn’t be too bad; if not it’s your funeral and I’m not bailing you out,” he says and then he walks toward the house he’d point at for the Garmans while I push my mower into the corner of the Thompsons’ yard.

I guess my lines are straight enough, because when I knock on the Thompsons’ door, who I assume, must be Nikki’s dad walks outside, looks over the front yard and nods. “I already checked the back. Good job, kid,” he says and he hands a fifty dollar bill. My eyes go a little wide, but I try to not react.

“Thanks. Guess, I’ll see you Sunday at the ice breaker picnic?”

He chuckles a little. “Ah, you’re in band, too, Yep, we’ll be there.”

“Cool. Bye,” I say and then I wave as I push my mower back to the sidewalk. Mr. Thompson closes his front door and then a second later my phone buzzes in my pocket and I pull it out. A text from Felix.

_When you’re done, come over here. Mrs. Garman made lemonade!_

_On my way! [thumbs up emoji]_

I push my mower toward the Garmans’ house and then I see Felix sitting on the front stoop with a glass of lemonade next to him and he waves me over with one hand and picks up a second glass with the other. I hurry toward him, leaving my mower at the end of their walkway next to Felix's. He hands me the lemonade and I take a sip before I sit down next to him. “This is really good.”

“I mean a sweet old lady made it, so it’s bound to be, right?” he says and we both laugh a little bit. “They were always the best house for trick-or-treat, too. She made homemade popcorn balls every year. I mean, she probably still does but I have haven’t gone trick-or-treating since sixth grade and mowing season is over before Halloween.”

“Wait… mowing season?”

“Huh? Like when it gets too cold and the grass stops growing and goes all brown for winter? Then it’s covered in snow half the time?”

“That’s a thing?”

He laughs. “Sweet southern boy, you’re in for a trip this year, aren’t you?” I sigh and roll my eyes. He pulls out his phone and looks at it. “Okay, we’ve got another three more hours until you need to be home; I think we can each do two more if we’re quick about it, yeah?” I agree and we finish off our lemonade. Felix knocks on the front door and little old lady opens it. “Thank you for the lemonade, Mrs. Garman. Have a good day!”

“You, too, Felix, oh, and your friend made it. Hello, dearie. What’s your name?”

“Uh, Victor, nice to meet you,” I say quietly.

She smiles. “New to the area? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

I nod. “Yes, ma’am, we just moved here from Texas at the beginning of last month.”

“Well, then. Quite the change, I’m sure. I hope you’re enjoying our little town.”

I nod. “So far, so good. Thanks.”

She smiles. “Well, alright, boys, I’ll let you get on with your day.” She waves a little and takes the glasses from us before closing the door.

“Really glad she answered that door and not her husband. He seriously doesn’t shut up and he tells you the same stories twenty times. I always feel too bad to cut him off; I guess their kids and grandkids don’t call very much and they’ve all moved away so it’s hard on him, so if he gets someone to listen, he takes advantage.”

“That’s actually really sad,” I say as we start walking.

“It is, but it’s also a little annoying and I’m too nice to say anything.”

“I wouldn’t either, so don’t feel too bad.”

“So, you’re going on a date with Mia tonight,” he says with a cheesy smile and I roll my eyes and sigh.

“I am, yes.”

“Any big plans? I mean… first date and all…”

“Uh, I’m going to buy her dinner and I already bought the movie tickets?” I say. “What am I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never been on a date.”

“So, I really don’t think you’re the best person to give me advice then. Maybe I’ll ask my dad if he gets home before I leave. I mean, he probably won’t, but maybe. I could ask my mom, I guess… or my sister. _God_ , I’m such a loser.”

“What’s that make me?”

“I don’t know. It’s just weird that my baby sister has been on more dates than I have, by _a lot_. I mean she _had a boyfriend_.”

“Right, you said they broke up or something?”

I roll my eyes. “He dumped her because he couldn’t do long distance or something stupid; he might have cheated on her. I don’t even really know.”

“And they’re _freshmen_ , not even.” He groans a little.

“Uh, Eric’s our age actually, but yeah, Pilar hasn't even been to a single high school class yet and she still has a longer dating history than me.”

“Well, tonight you get to start yours! And it’s going to be beautiful!”

I roll my eyes. “If you say so.”

We cover four more houses in total and then we start walking home. The alarm on my phone goes off just as Felix is closing the padlock on the storage locker. “Good luck!” he says with a cheesy grin and a wave as we part ways.

“Uh, thanks, I guess,” I say and then I walk into my building and up the stairs.

“You’re home early,” my mom says.

“Uh, yeah, I have that date tonight, remember? I wanna get a shower and change before that, obviously. I’m sort of gross right now.”

She smiles a little and waves me toward the hall and I laugh. I go into my room and pick out clothes to wear; jeans and nice t-shirt seem like the right choice, so I take those and a pair of underwear with me into the bathroom. I close the toilet lid and drop them on top before quickly crossing the hall and knocking on Pilar’s door. “Go away!” she says and I roll my eyes.

“It’s me, you jerk.”

“Oh,” she says quietly and then her music turns down and I hear footsteps. She cracks the door open. “What?”

“I’m about to get a shower, do you need to use the bathroom first?”

“I’m good; thanks, though. Have fun on your date!” she smiles at me.

I laugh a little. “Thanks, hermana.”

She snaps the door shut and as I cross the hall, the volume on her music turns back up and I laugh a little to myself. She’s listening to what my Abuela Nati would call ‘devil music’ and I just sort of assume Mom must have done something to piss her off, because it’s extra loud today and Mom isn’t yelling at her about it. I quickly shower and get dressed then I comb my hair in the mirror. I cross the hall to drop my dirty clothes into my laundry basket and then pick up my phone from the bed. It’s only three and I have no idea why I decided to come home so early.

“Mijo, come out here please,” my mom calls from the living room and I go, but I’m just trying to figure out what she wants.

“¿Qué pasa?”

She laughs a little. “Just wanted to see what you’re wearing. Where are you taking her?”

“Um, a restaurant downtown and then the movies,” I say, “why?”

She shrugs. “Did you get her anything?”

“What d’you mean?”

“Chocolate, flowers, cheesy romantic things girls love…”

“Was I supposed to?” I ask with wide eyes.

She shrugs. “You don’t have to, but it’s your first date, mi amor.”

I sigh a little. “Well, I’m gonan pay for dinner and I already bought the movie tickets on my phone…”

“You can do that?”

I laugh a little. “Si. There’s an app.”

“Wow.”

“Right; this is why _Pilar_ is setting up your Facebook account. Um,” I say and then I shrug a little. “I was actually going to ask you something anyway…”

“¿Qué pasa, cariño?”

“Uh, I don’t know. I’ve never been on a date before. I don’t know what I’m like… supposed to do, I guess?”

She laughs quietly and then pats the sofa next to her. “Siéntate conmigo.” I walk over and sit down. She puts an arm around my shoulders. “You like this girl, si?”

I nod a little. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“You _guess so_?”

I sigh. “It’s complicated. Uh, I mean, she likes me and I guess I’m supposed to like her because she’s popular and cute and whatever. And I _do_ like her, but I’m not sure I like her-like her… like as more than a friend. I don’t know.”

My mom smiles at me gently. “Okay, mijo, I’ll tell you what. Go into this date with an open mind. Don’t think about all that. Just see what happens. A single date isn’t a lifetime commitment. Open the doors for her and be a gentleman, but talk to her like a real person, too. Get to know her. See what she likes. Does she do any other activities at school? That kind of thing, you know?” I nod a little. “Okay, well, what time are you meeting her?”

“Four-thirty,” I say and I pull my phone out of my pocket. Barely ten minutes have passed. “I need to text Felix and ask how long it takes to walk down there,” I realize out loud and then I do just that.

_About 30 min. Maybe a little less. You’re on the field, so you're probably move quicker than me. [laughing emoji]_

_Thanks._

I look back up and my mom has her head tilted and she’s still looking at me. “About half-an-hour, I say. So, I guess I should leave by four.”

“Then you still have time,” she says with a smile. “Tell me about this girl you’re going to see; maybe I can help you figure out what you’re feeling, huh?”

I nod slowly. I highly doubt that since she has no idea why I’m doubting anything at all and she never will; at least not any time soon. I sigh, “Uh, she lives with her dad. He’s the president of some fancy college in Lancaster, but he had a mansion built up on top that hill these people call a mountain instead because he didn’t want her to have to switch schools. Her mom’s not around and I don’t really know why. She plays the flute. Her best friend is Lake, who Felix is madly in love with, but Lake won’t give him the time of day. Mia’s dad travels a lot for work. He was in Europe the other weekend when we went to Knoebel’s. She’s really nice and kind and she just gets me, you know? We’re from these completely different worlds, but we’re just on the same wavelength about a lot of things.”

My mom smiles at me. “That sounds an awful lot like you like her, mijo.”

I laugh. “I mean, like I said. I _do_ like her. She’s already one of my favorite people here, but I can’t figure out if I actually _like_ her or if I just wanna be friends with her.”

“Well, it sounds like she wants to be more than friends with you, no?”

I nod. “Definitely. She was _very_ excited when I asked her out.”

My mom smiles. “So, give it a shot. What’s the worst that can happen?”

_I break her heart when I finally admit I don’t like girls and am madly in love with Benji._ I think I might like him almost as much as Felix likes Lake; I’m just not a total insane weirdo about it. At least, I don’t think I am. And _he’s_ the one that brought up that stupid hallway incident yesterday, so just maybe he might like me, too, or he might if he even knew I was into guys at all; if anyone did. My mom’s staring at me like she’s trying to figure out what’s happening in my brain, so I just shake my head a little. “I don’t know.”

“Well give her a chance, okay? She sounds like a really good girl.”

I nod a little. “She is.”

I walk up the stairs outside The Pressed Plate at just before 4:30 and I don’t see Mia yet, so I step to the side on the porch and wait. It’s next door to a barber shop which is a little odd, but who knows. A few minutes after I arrive, a car with one of those bright pink Lyft lights in the window pulls up and Mia gets out of the back seat. She leans back in, presumably to thank her driver and then closes the door. She smiles when she sees me and I walk back down the stairs to greet her. “Hey,” I say with a smile and she keeps smiling back.

“Hey,” she says. “Sorry I’m late. The Lyft driver got lost finding my place.”

“You’re good,” I say and then I turn around to gesture at the restaurant, “Shall we?”

She nods and I gesture for her to walk up the stairs first. “You haven’t been here yet, have you?” she asks once we’re inside and I shake my head.

“I’ve been told the strawberry lemonade is to die for, but that’s about it.”

“Cassie told you that.”

I laugh a little. “She did. This was her idea. I had to pick her and Felix’s brains on Wednesday morning because I know next to nothing around here yet.”

She smiles a little and picks up a menu which she hands to me. “I know what I want, but you need to figure something out. Also, can we share an order of fries? They’re my favorite, but I can never finish a whole order myself.”

“Um, yeah, sure,” I say.

“Perfect,” she says and then we walk further inside and find an empty table to sit down at while I look over the menu. The list of sandwiches is longer than I’m expecting and there's like eight different burgers, too. I have it narrowed down to a couple options when the waitress walks over.

“Good afternoon,” she says and she smiles at me oddly. “Can I get you guys something to drink?”

“Strawberry lemonade,” Mia says and the waitress glances at her and nods.

“And for you?” she asks, turning back to me with that same odd smile.

“The same,” I say and I force a little smile at her; hoping it’ll make her stop whatever she’s doing right now, but it doesn’t.

“Did you know what you wanted to eat, or do you need a few minutes?”

“I’m good,” Mia says, “Victor, did you figure out what you want yet?”

I shake my head. “I need a few minutes, I think,” I say.

“No problem, I’ll get your lemonades while you decide,” the waitress says and then she walks away, Mia stares after her for a second and then turns back to me.

“She likes you,” she whispers.

“What?”

“The waitress. She was _totally_ flirting with you.”

“Really?” Mia nods. “Well, I’m on a date with you, not her, so she gonna have to get in line,” I say with a laugh and then I sigh a little.

Mia smiles radiantly at me. “Do you at least have it narrowed down, yet?”

“Uh, yeah. Debating between this Bacon Cheddar BBQ burger or the Grilled Chicken Cuban,” I say.

“The burgers are good from what I hear, but I’m vegetarian, so I couldn’t really say.”

“What do you get?”

“The Momma,” she says, “It’s smoked mozzarella and tomato and basil with Italian dressing. It’s amazing.”

The waitress returns and sets our lemonades on the table. “Have you decided?” she asks me, practically turning her back on Mia and I guess I see what she was talking about.

“Mia, why don’t you order first,” I say and I smile at her.

She chuckles, because I think she understands what I’m doing. I think the waitress might actually roll her eyes as she turns slightly toward Mia, but not even the whole way. “Um, the Momma, please. And chips are fine, but can we also get an order of fries to share with a thing of the spicy garlic ketchup.”

The waitress nods as she scribbles and turns back to me. “Uh, I think I’m going to do the Grilled Chicken Cuban,” I say.

“Chips for you, okay?”

“Uh, yeah, that’s great,” I say with a little nod.

The waitress smiles at me and says, “That’ll be right out then,” as she picks up my menu and walks back behind the counter.

Mia chuckles again and I smile at her. “So, what else do you do at school? Other than band,” I say

“Oh, um, I do concert band and choir.”

“You sing?”

“Not well. Lake makes me do it. Not that she can sing either, but she likes to pretend she can,” she says with a little laugh. “Um, we do wind ensemble, too. Lake wants me to audition for the musical with her, but I refuse. I can’t dance and I can’t sing, there’s no way; I’d just embarrass myself, you know?”

I nod. “Yeah, same. Are _you_ going to tell me why Benji thought rookie initiation was going to be ‘even more hilarious’ when I told him I can’t sing?”

She laughs loudly. “Nope. That’s a secret. I’m not allowed to tell you until Halloween, rookie; sorry not sorry.” She winks. “I promise not to laugh too much.”

I groan. “I really don’t like the sounds of whatever this tradition is.”

She laughs again. “Don’t worry, it’s not horrific or anything and you’ll have all the freshmen with you and Ben? Because he’s only in this for the Disney trip.”

“Ben that plays mellophone, right?”

“You’ve met him, have you?”

“Uh, he goes to my church.”

“You're religious?” she asks and her eyes kind of go wide.

“I wouldn’t say that, but my mom is and my dad goes because she goes and because his parents are religious and they make us go, too. Although, it’s better here than in Texas, because a bunch of kids from band go there, too, so we all sort of sit together in the back and avoid our parents all morning.”

She laughs. “Where do you go?”

“Uh, the catholic church?”

She nods. “Yeah, there’s a _lot_ of Catholics in Ephrata.”

I sort of laugh under my breath and nod. “You’re not religious then?”

She shakes her head. “Uh, my mom was when I was really little and she’d take me with her, but then she stopped going when I was in like third grade and I haven’t been since.”

“Oh,” I say, but I don’t have time to say anything else before the waitress appears. She sets our plates in front of us and a third plate with a little mountain of fries in the middle of the table. She doesn’t even glance as Mia when she asks if there’s anything else she can get us. “No, thanks,” I say and she smiles at me.

“Well, just holler if you need anything,” she says and then she walks away again and I watch her. She glances over her shoulder at me as she walks behind the counter and I roll my eyes as I turn back to Mia.

“You’re totally right about her, by the way. I didn’t even notice until you said something, but _yikes_.”

Mia laughs. “She’s _definitely_ going to write her number on the back of the check.”

I laugh, too. “Oh my _God_ , do people actually do that?”

“I’ve definitely seen it happen,” she says and then we both pick up our sandwiches and start eating. The food is good, but the conversation is better and it’s six o’clock before it feels like it should be so I pay quickly and we walk up the street to the movie theatre. “Did you already buy the tickets?” she asks as we walk inside.

“Yeah. I just bought ‘em on my phone,” I say and she nods as I pull up the tickets to show the guy by the door.

He scans the QR code and then gestures us through. “It’s Theatre Two, then guys,” he says as we start walking.

“Um, do you want popcorn or something?” I ask, glancing to the left at the concession stand. There’re only two theatres in here and it’s small; definitely the smallest theatre I’ve ever been in.

She shrugs. “We did just eat, but I really love those weird little cookie dough bites,” she says kind of sheepishly.

“Come on then,” I say and we get into line. I buy her cookie dough bites and I get us each a soda and I get a small bag of popcorn with extra butter, that I know she’s going to end up eating some of, but I don’t mind. I think my mom was right. I think I might like her for real after all. And honestly, that’s kind of a relief. After we have our snacks and drinks, we walk toward the theatre and she sort of brushes against me in the doorway and apologizes. I laugh a little. “Stop. I know you tried that,” I say with a wink and she blushes adorably as we keep walking.

We find our seats only a few rows down from where we enter at the back; right in the middle of the room. The seats are comfortable. They’re not those weird recliners that some theatres have now but they’re leather and they do sort of rock back a little which is nice. Mia’s arm brushes mine as we’re trying to figure out the armrest situation and she blushes again and I sort of laugh a little.

The previews play and then the movie and it’s alright, I guess? I mean I sort of loved the original animated Lion King when I was a kid and this is just that story again but crazy CGI instead of animation. Like, it’s a technical masterpiece, but it’s just… lacking. I don’t know what it’s lacking, but it’s definitely something. When we stand up and gather our things to leave, my mouth kind of drops open when I look to my right and then I’m not paying attention at all to where I’m walking, so I walk right into the back of Mia and spill the rest of my soda on her back; at least it’s only a tiny bit. She squeaks a little. “I’m sorry,” I say and then grab the napkins from my pocket. “God, I’m so dumb. I’m so sorry,” I say and she just kind of laughs.

“Victor, it’s fine. I stopped suddenly. It was my fault. I wasn’t expecting to see Benji and Derek here and it kind of took me aback.” _So his name’s Derek_ , I think and then we’re walking again and when we get to the back of the room, I hear Benji’s chuckle to my right and I try to resist the urge to look at him, but fail.

“Hey,” he says with a smile.

“Hi,” I say back. “Stalking me much?”

The look on Derek’s face is kind of priceless at that. Benji squeezes his eyes shut. “I’m sorry, Vic. I completely forgot this was your plan for your date. Derek wanted to see it and there were tickets let. Didn’t mean to be a total creep, promise.”

I laugh. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

He smiles at me for a second and I smile back, because it’s kind of impossible not to smile at Benji when he’s smiling at me. “Um, oh yeah, this is my boyfriend, Derek,” he says gesturing. “Babe, this is Victor, the other snare this year. I think I’ve mentioned him.”

“Once or twice,” Derek says and there’s this edge to his voice that I don’t quite understand.

Mia seems to sense the tension and tries to diffuse. “Hey, Derek,” she says.

Derek smiles at her. “Mia.”

“Where are you going to school?”

“Millersville,” he says and shrugs.

“Doing band?” He nods. “I bet it’s gonna be weird being back on the field after you were drum major for two years, huh?”

“Probably a little, but whatever. I’m Music Ed so I have to do at least two years of Marching Band to graduate.”

“That’s cool. I’m actually thinking about going there for Art Ed when I graduate.”

“Great school for any sort of Ed honestly, but isn't your dad like the president of F and M?” he says and he half-smiles at Mia.

"He is, but they don't have an art program or any Ed programs." she shrugs a little.

“Anyway, we should get going,” I say and then I sort of grab Mia’s hand haphazardly and lead her out of the theatre and then the building without stopping or saying anything. Once we’re back outside on the sidewalk, I stop and let go of her hand.

“Are you okay?” she says and she has this weird look on her face.

“I don’t know. I get the feeling Derek doesn’t like me very much.”

She laughs. “Derek doesn’t like anybody very much. Other than Benji, obviously, and even that’s questionable at times from what I hear, but not my business.” I really want to ask her what she means by that, but I don’t.

“So, what d’you think, worst first date you’ve ever been on?”

“Well, uh, actually I can’t compare it, because… this I the _only_ first date I’ve ever been on,” she says and I was not expecting that.

“Come on. Guys must ask you out all the time.”

She shakes her head. “No. Not like this. I mean, I’ve hung out with guys at parties, but this is the most date-date I’ve ever been on.” She smiles at me a little and then looks down.

Then it sort of dawns on me: _Benji has a boyfriend_. He’s off the table. I have nothing at all to lose by giving Mia an honest chance, so I lean a little closer to her and whisper, “Me, too.” Our eyes meet for a second and then we’re kissing and I have those little butterflies in my stomach that people are always going on about. When we break apart, we both sort of laugh a little. I don’t know if we’re nervous or what, but it’s cute and I _really_ think I like her.

“Um, I need to order a Lyft,” she says and I nod a little.

“I’ll wait with you,” I suggest and she smiles at me again and nods as she pulls out her phone. We end up sitting on a bench a little way down the sidewalk from the movie theatre entrance while we wait and I’m really glad when we don’t see Benji and Derek again, because now I can focus on Mia without worrying. At least, I should be able to do that, right? I can’t worry about making the wrong decision anymore. Benji isn’t an option anymore, so it’s Mia or nothing.

The car pulls up a few minutes later and Mia gets to her feet. “I’ll see you on Sunday,” she says with a little smile and then she bites her lip.

I nod a little. “Yeah, see you then,” I say and then we kiss again before she opens the door of the car and gets in. I wait for the driver to pull away and then I start walking home. And while I’m walking, I try to unravel the night in my head a thousand times over until it feels like I’m just spinning in circles.

When I get inside, Pilar’s on the sofa watching TV with her phone and iPad in either hand. “Hey, hermana, how was your night?”

She looks up at me and there’s a look on her face I don’t quite understand. “Perfect,” she says and she’s obviously not telling the truth, but I don’t push my luck. “How was your date?” she says when I don’t move.

I laugh a little and nod. “It was good. The movie was okay. The food was good. Mia was amazing,” I say.

She laughs. “So you _do_ like her.”

“Yeah,” I say with a nod and this time I’m telling the truth. I _do_ like Mia and I mean that the same way everyone else does; at least I think I do. I sit down next to Pilar and she shifts into the corner and turns the iPad so I can’t see the screen and starts typing. “Who’re you talking to?” I ask. She shakes her head, but says nothing.

Our parents walk in from their dinner out a few minutes later. “Hey!” Mom says when she walks in. “How were your evenings?”

“Fine,” Pilar says. She picks up the remote turns off the TV before she stands up. “I didn’t finish setting up your account; there were some _problems_.” She walks past our parents with a look I don’t understand and goes back the hallway to her room.

“ _Oh_ , okay,” Mom says as she stares after Pilar. My parents exchange a look, but say nothing and then my dad walks back the hall, too. My mom half-smiles at me for a second. “How about you, mijo? How was your night? Your date?”

I smile. “I, uh, think you were right.” She tilts her head at me. “What you said earlier; that I should give Mia a chance? I think you were right. I think I _do_ actually like her-like her.”

She chuckles a little under her breath. “That good a kisser, huh?”

I stare at her. “What?”

She rolls her eyes. “You definitely kissed her. I can see her lipstick on your face, mi amor. How was it? Everything you ever dreamed of?”

I rub at my lips awkwardly. “Uh, yeah, I guess. I mean, I even got those little butterflies in my stomach everyone’s always talking about,” I tell her and she laughs a little and then nods.

“Well, I’m glad one Salazar had a good night.”

I don’t stop to think about or ask her what that means about my parents’ dinner date. I just walk past her and into my bedroom. There’s not much I want to think about right now at all, if I’m being honest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 30 chapters before there's even a kiss and then it's with Mia. Oops. I'm sorry for the slowness of this burn, really I am.
> 
> Also there's some things that Simon (et. al.) told Victor in the series that he needs to hear for things to work out that I'm making various other characters tell him instead. In this case, his mom. Also, we're following the plot of season one even more closely than I initially intended, but it's all kind of wonky and out of order in some places and not everything will be included and it's also, obviously, really drawn out (sorry about that part).
> 
> If you have questions or want spoilers (i.e. you want to know when certain things are going to happen), I'll be happy to tell you in a private tumblr message or ask response as to not spoil it for everyone else (or if you follow me on twitter or whatever). I have a full-on calendar created for this fic along with two Excel files and an extra Word file that has my outline of where each "part" stops and starts along with the major plot points there within, so I can give you a pretty good idea of part and/or date for all the major events.
> 
> I promise a happy ending a la the real series (but less dramatic/problematic) plus an extra [two months plus] of sweet Venji content including that Disney World Trip. [I wrote this chapter really late at night; or well late for old ladies like me and apparently I can't count at that hour.]


	31. Part 7A - Weekend Before Band Camp

Felix and I start out Saturday mowing lawns and I tell him about my date with Mia though I leave out the part about running into Benji and Derek. I wonder if Felix knows about Derek? I mean I’m sure he does if they’ve been together for almost a year and they were both in band last year. Why hasn’t anyone mentioned him before? Felix told me about all the random couples in his friend group a week after I moved here; even the ones that involved people that graduated. Why wouldn’t he think to mentioned Derek? But then I remember he didn’t mention Val and Chris being together either until I saw them at Benji’s party. Maybe because he’s not actually friends with Benji, he didn’t think it mattered? I don’t know, but I do wish someone had told me and I also wish I knew what Mia meant when she said what she did last night about Derek not liking anybody.

My phone buzzes in my pocket as I walk away from collecting payment on a house. It’s just afternoon. I pull out the phone and it’s a text from Benji.

_I’m really sorry about last night. I hope I didn’t ruin your date. I completely forgot you said you were going to that showing, I swear._

_It’s cool. You didn’t ruin our date. Don’t worry so much._

_If only it were that simple. Anyway, if you and Felix and your sister want to come swimming later, I’m game. Derek has meet the band day at Millersville today, so it’s just me and Lucy and this really nice pool…_

_Um, yeah, let me talk to them. Felix and I are actually mowing lawns right now, but I’m sure he’s gonna start complaining about the heat any minute._

As if on cue, Felix walks over to me as I put my phone back in my pocket. “It’s too hot,” he whines.

“Felix, it’s not even ninety degrees.”

“Close enough. It’s too hot. I’m ready to go home.”

I laugh a little. “ _Actually_ ,” I say, “Uh, Benji just invited us and Pilar over to go swimming.”

“Really? I figured he’d be with Derek this weekend since he’s gonna be stuck at Band Camp starting Monday.”

_Felix knows about Derek, interesting._ “Uh, apparently, Derek has a band thing at Millersville today, so it’s just Benji and Lucy over there right now.”

“Oh, sweet. Not that I don’t like Derek. Actually, I _don’t_ like Derek, but he gets weird around other people, so Benji doesn’t usually invite anyone over if he’s there. There were a lot more percussion pool parties last summer before they started dating.”

I nod a little. “Mia told me that Derek doesn’t really like anybody. Why?”

Felix rolls his eyes. “He’s pretentious and full of himself? He used to be chill with like, the other gay kids, I guess, but then he even started hating them and now that he graduated, he barely speaks to anyone younger than him; other than obviously, Benji.”

“That’s weird.”

Felix shrugs. “That’s Derek. I’m just glad we have a likeable drum major now. Robert’s actually cool and doesn’t have his head up his ass.”

“Yeah, he seems chill,” I say as we start walking toward home. I don’t understand why Benji would date the person Felix is describing to me. Benji is so sweet and kind and patient and just an all around a great guy; why on earth would he put up with _that_? And before I can help myself, I say it out loud. “If Derek’s like that, why on earth is Benji dating him?”

Felix laughs. “Uh, I think because they got together before Benji was even out. He _might_ have been the first person Benji came out to actually, but I don’t even know. I literally don’t know how they even became friends; Derek seems like an odd choice to come out to even though he’s always been _super_ gay.”

“Really?”

Felix nods. “Yeah. Benji didn’t come out until Homecoming last year and he came out by showing up to the homecoming dance with Derek,” he says. “They’ve apparently been together since September of last year though.”

“Oh,” I say and then I decide I should probably quit while I’m ahead. Who am I to judge their relationship? I’ve barely even met Derek, and I guess I should probably try to give him a chance, right? Not that I want to. I’d rather just hate him, so I can convince Benji to break up with him and love me instead. I laugh at my own ridiculousness. I need to stop thinking like that. I’m supposed to be dating Mia now; or well we went on a date at least. And I’m not out and maybe I’ll never have to be if things actually work out with Mia. That’s a more comforting thing to think about, so I try to focus on that as we turn onto our street.

I’ve spent the last almost four years worrying about the fact that I like guys; that I’m attracted to other boys and seemingly not girls. Not girls until Mia, anyway. Worrying about how my parents would react. My mom is so Catholic she may as well be the pope and my dad tags along. My grandparents are conservative nightmares that talk shit about not only the LGBT+ community but everyone else they feel is sinning. See also: ‘devil music’ that my sister listens to. I guess they might actually be worse than my parents if I’m being fair, but the whole idea of ever coming out to any of them, scares me. I know Pilar wouldn’t care; she’d probably be excited about and try to use it as an excuse to not go to church anymore, honestly. But my parents and grandparents are another story entirely. I’ve heard a lot of horror stories on the internet about everything from conversion therapy to summer camps where they try to make you pray the gay away and it’s all horrifying to think about. I really hope everything works out with Mia, because while she might be the only girl I’ve ever been remotely interested in, _she’s a girl that I’m remotely interested in_ , and really that’s all I can ask for, I think.

“So, when are we going to Benji’s?” Felix asks as he steps back from locking the mowers away. I laugh a little.

“I totally haven’t even told him we’re coming yet, so give me a second,” I say and I pull out my phone.

_Hey so Felix and I are in. I’ll ask my sister in a minute, too. What time should we head over?_

_My mom is literally about to order pizza for lunch, so if you want pizza, now. Also what kind of pizza do you want?_

I look up at Felix who is watching me. “So, he said his mom’s about to order pizza, so if we go now, we can have some.”

“Amazing,” Felix says.

I laugh. “Uh, he asked what kind of pizza…”

Felix shrugs, “I’m down with whatever honestly.”

“Okay, so I’ll tell him we’re getting ready and we’ll be there as soon as we can?”

Felix nods. “Yep, just gonna shower and change. Don’t wanna drag all this loose grass into his pool like a jerk.”

“Meet you back outside in like twenty minutes?”

“Perfect!”

I laugh a little and text Benji again as I start walking toward my building.

_Felix doesn’t care on what type of pizza. I’m good with whatever, too, but my sister is picky as heck, so maybe sausage or just plain cheese for her. Felix and I both wanna shower and the we’ll be there as soon as we can if that’s cool?_

_[thumbs up] Pizza order relayed to my mom and we’ll see you guys soon!_

_It’s just you and Lucy, right?_

_Yep. And pool parties are lame with only two attendees, so hurry up!_

I laugh as I open the door to my apartment. My mom is sitting at the piano, playing some classical something or other. “Pilar in her room?” I ask as I put a hand on my mom’s shoulder. She smiles at me and nods.

I walk back the hall and knock on my sister’s door. “Go away!”

“It’s me, you weirdo,” I say and she sighs and turns the music down a little.

“Come in.”

I open the door and look at her. She’s staring angrily at her laptop screen. “What has gotten into you?” She rolls her eyes. “Okay, well Benji invited us to go swimming if you wanna come.” She makes a face. “You don’t have to, but his mom is ordering pizza and I may have already relayed your weird-ass preferences for sausage or plain cheese only, so…” Her face does a thing that makes me laugh as she tries not to smile. “So, are you coming? I’m gonna get a shower and then we’re supposed to meet Felix out front in twenty minutes to walk there.”

“How far is his house?”

“I think it took like forty minutes to walk there?” She groans. “Maybe mom’ll drive us.”

“No thanks.”

“Okay, what did she do to you?” I walk further into the room and close the door behind myself.

“Not to me,” she says.

“Okay, so what happened that you suddenly hate our mother?”

“Victor,” she says and then she sits up a little more and turns to look at me. “Mom had an affair.”

“What? No she didn’t.”

“After I finished setting up her Facebook page, some guy named Roger R. started messaging her all this creepy romantic crap; look!”

I sit down next to her and she slides her laptop onto my lap. There’s an open chat with Roger R. whose profile picture is a pitbull that looks oddly familiar; I swear I’ve met that dog before. The messages are a little creepy.

_Hey there, surprised you accepted. [red heart emoji]_

_I know we’re not supposed to be talking but… I miss you._

_I miss you. I wish you were here. Please call me._

“We don’t know what any of this means,” I say quickly.

“I miss you. I wish you were here. Please call me,” she reads out loud.

“He’s probably just some internet creep, okay? That’s why mom hasn’t written him back.”

“She hasn’t written back because she hasn’t seen the messages yet. I changed her Facebook password and said her profile got a virus. Mom’s really don’t understand how the internet works.”

“It’s probably just spam. Mom stopped watching Jimmy Kimmel after he got skinny because she was having impure thoughts. There’s no way she had an affair.”

The laptop dings in my lap and another message from Roger pops up.

_Isabel, please. Don’t give up on us._

_Please talk to me._

Neither of us say anything after we read it and then I sigh. “I need to shower and get to Benji’s. Are you coming or not?” I say as I slide the laptop back to her and stand up.

She thinks about it for a second and then nods. “Sure, why not. Haven’t gone swimming since we got here. Might as well before it gets cold or whatever,” she says. She snaps her laptop shut and gets to her feet, too. “Out. I’ll be out after I change. Wait is it just you two and Benji?”

“Uh, Lucy’s there. You know her, right? From guard?”

Pilar smiles a little and nods. “Yeah. She’s actually pretty okay.”

I chuckle a little. “Look at you, makin' friends. I’m gonna shower and then we’ll go.”

I leave her room and close the door behind myself. My mom looks up from the piano and asks, “What was that about?”

“Oh, uh, Benji… my section leader? He invited us and Felix to come swimming at his house again, so we’re gonna go if that’s okay.”

“Do you want a ride?”

“Didn’t Dad take the car? Where _is_ Dad anyway?”

“He didn’t take the car and he’s at work. Something broke so he had to go in today.”

“Oh,” I say, “Um, I guess if you want to. I need to shower first though.”

She nods. “Of course, mijo.”

I walk into my room and grab my swimming trunks and a clean t-shirt before crossing the hall into the bathroom. After my shower, I get dressed and grab a beach towel from the linen closet in the hallway. I go to my room and drop the dirty clothes into my basket and then put on my slides. When I walk back into the hallway, I look around for Pilar and don’t see her, but my mom is standing next to the sofa. “Ready to go?” she asks.

“As soon as Pilar is, yeah,” I say and then I go to knock on my sister’s door again. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah,” she says as she opens the door. “Just need to grab a towel.” She opens the linen closet and pulls one out and then she looks at our mom. “What’s she doing?”

“She asked what we were doing and offered to give us a ride. Come on,” I say and I give her a pointed look. She stares back. “Don’t do this right now,” I whisper. She nods once and then we walk into the living room and follow our mom outside. Felix is already waiting. “Sorry we took so long. But my mom’s gonna give us a ride, so there’s that,” I say, gesturing to her.

“Sweet! Thanks, Mrs. S.!”

“No problem,” she says with a smile and we walk toward the car as she unlocks it and we all get in. Pilar doesn’t even try for the front door which is unlike her, so I take it instead and she gets into the back with Felix.

“So, where is Benji’s house?” Mom asks.

“I can just give you directions as we go,” Felix says.

“Okay,” my mom agrees and then she pulls out.

“Up at the light turn left onto Main Street.” Once we’re on Main Street, Felix says, “Go straight at the next light, but right after that there’s a kind of Y thing and you want to turn to the Right, but not the hard right into the park, just the kind of right on Fulton Street.” My mom makes a face but doesn’t say anything. A minute later she makes the turn. “Yep, and now you just keep going. He lives on this street out a ways.” Mom drives and we pass the elementary school and the weird hearse garage that Byron and Felix told me about and then we’re almost to the turn before Benji’s house. “When you go around that turn it’s the like third or fourth house on the left; it’s blue; there’s a big tree out front.”

My mom pulls into Benji’s driveway and Pilar immediately gets out of the car, slamming the door behind her without a word. “What is her problem?” my mom asks, looking at me.

“No clue,” I lie and then I get out, too.

“Thanks again for the ride, Mrs. S.” Felix says as he gets out of the back and my mom smiles at him before he closes the door. Once we all walk around to the front of the car, she waves and then backs out of the driveway. Felix and I lead Pilar around the back of the house and down the hill toward the pool. The gate’s standing open just like it was last time we were here and I can hear Benji’s voice beyond it, but I can’t quite understand what he’s saying because the waterfall is apparently on, too.

“Hey!” I say when we walk in and Benji and Lucy look up from where they are in the middle of the pool.

“Hey!” Benji says and he seems a little surprised. “Either you guys ran or you got a ride.”

I laugh. “My mom drove us.”

“Aha!” he says. “Well, come on in!”

We set our towels and phones on the white metal table and then carefully get into the water, or well, I carefully lower myself into the water from the edge; Felix runs up to the wooden gazebo and jumps off the rope swing without warning. Benji laughs as the water splashes. Pilar looks around and then walks around the edge of the pool to the ladder to climb in. I hear Lucy greet her as she swims over and Pilar half-smiles in return.

I’m really glad Felix is the kind of person that’s content in a corner by himself because I end up spending the entire afternoon talking to Benji and Pilar seems to actually be speaking to Lucy, so that’s something. I don’t know what time it is but a phone starts going off on the table and Benji takes a deep breath. “That’s mine. I’ll be right back.” He hoists himself out of the pool and picks up his phone from the table and quickly answers the call. “Hey Handsome, what’s up?” My heart sinks as I remember Derek exists and I sigh as I swim toward where Felix has been hanging out.

“Sorry for like, inviting you along and then ignoring you all day,” I say awkwardly as I lean against the wall next to him.

He shrugs. “It’s fine. I’m good at being alone. Only child syndrome or whatever.”

I smile at him a little and he nods and shrugs. “Oh! I still need to ask my parents if it’s okay if you ride with us tomorrow. I mean, they’re not gonna care, but still.”

He smiles. “Your parents are so nice,” he says and I roll my eyes.

“That’s just because they’re not _your_ parents.” And then Benji jumps back into the water from the side of the pool.

“Okay, so we have like forty-five minutes,” he says and I tilt my head at him. “Derek just left Millersville. Their thing’s over apparently and he wants to hang out or something.” It doesn’t sound like Benji’s as excited as one would expect to be hanging out with his boyfriend; then again with what I know about his boyfriend, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at all.

“Did you set a timer?” Lucy asks and that seems like a weird question, but Benji nods for thirty-five minutes so you guys have time to towel off and if you’re calling your mom for a ride home.

“No!” Pilar says. “Once across town in a car with her was plenty.”

I stare at her for a second. “Okay, I guess we’re walking.”

“Did something happen?” Benji asks quietly as he comes to stand next to me.

“Maybe? Kind of? It’s complicated.” He just looks at me for a second and nods.

“I’m still really sorry about last night,” he says and I laugh.

“Stop. I told you; it’s fine. You didn’t ruin anything. I promise. I mean we were both kind of shocked to see you guys but that’s it. No harm, no foul. It’s a small town; bound to run into people when you go anywhere, right?”

He nods a little. “I guess that’s true. So, how _was_ the date, anyway?”

“Um,” I try to say and if he’d ask me that last night, I would have said great. Actually, if _he’d_ asked me that last night, I wouldn’t have ever landed on great, I don’t think. I shrug a little. “Uh, it was good. That movie was a little… I mean it was a technical masterpiece, obviously and the musical numbers were fantastic, but it just felt like it was missing that spark from the original, you know?”

He nods a little. “Couldn’t agree more, but that has nothing to do with how your date went,” he says with a laugh.

I roll my eyes. “Mia’s great. We had a good time. We talked a lot. Uh, we kissed.”

“Oooooooh,” he says.

“And apparently she left lipstick on my face which my mom saw when I got home.”

Benji throw his head back and laughs wildly. “That’s hilarious. Glad I don’t have to worry about that one.”

“Well, I mean, it’s a little different when you already have a boyfriend, right? Like, that was my first date… not just with Mia, but like in general,” I say.

He seems a little surprised by this news. “I mean, I guess so, but my parents don’t exactly like Derek or the fact that I’m gay if we’re being fair.”

“Really?”

“Really which part? Because yes.”

“They don’t like you being gay?”

“I mean, my mom tries to pretend she’s okay with it. She lets me do whatever I want and doesn’t bother me. My dad just pretends it’s not happening at all. He calls Derek ‘that jackass you hang out with all the time’ and has gotten distant, I guess? We’re definitely not as close as we used to be; I mean with my mom or dad, but especially my dad.”

“That sucks,” I say and he nods a little.

“Yeah, but whatever.” It makes me sad, but it also reminds me that my parents would be so much worse than distant if I even came out to them, but I can’t tell him that because that would mean coming out to him and I’m not ready for that. I’m not ready for anyone to know, because honestly, I don’t even know. And I guess I don’t realize how long my thoughts are just swirling inside my own head, because the next thing I know the alarm on Benji’s phone is going off. “Everyone out!” he says as he goes to turn it off.

“Even me,” Lucy whines.

“Even you, Luc,” he says with a chuckle.

“But Derek _likes_ me.”

Benji rolls his eyes. “He likes you because you’re a girl that’s always with me. You’re like his favorite little cockblock for when he’s not around.”

“Like you’d cheat on him.”

“You know I wouldn’t, but he seems to think I would for _God_ knows what reason.”

“I mean you should. Well, you should dump him; not cheat on him, but still,” Lucy says as she hoists herself up the ladder. I pick up my towel and dry myself off and watch Felix and my sister do the same.

“Hey, can I use your bathroom before we go?” Felix asks and Benji shrugs and gestures toward the house. “I left the door unlocked. My parents aren’t home. They left after the pizza.”

Felix grabs his phone from the table and hurries up the wooden stairs and across the deck. Pilar and I walk out of the pool enclosure to wait for him. And Lucy follows us. “Well, I guess I’ll see both of you tomorrow at the picnic?”

“Yep,” we say in unison and she laughs.

“Benji!”

“Huh?” he says, popping his head up from where he’s turning something off.

“Is Derek coming tomorrow?”

“Don’t know actually. I’ll ask when he gets here.”

Felix walks out of the house a second later and then we all walk up the hill toward Benji’s driveway. “If I’d known we were walking home, I would have worn real shoes,” I say. My slides are squeaking with every step and trying to fall off.

“I told you I didn’t want Mom to give us a ride,” Pilar says.

“What the hell is going on with you and your mom?” Felix asks looking at her. “You’re mom’s amazing.”

Pilar rolls her eyes. “Not so much.” Then she looks at me and I sigh and nod a little.

“It’s complicated, man. Don’t worry about it.”

Felix raises his eyebrows and shrugs and we’re at the end of the driveway now. I already see Lucy opening the door to an apartment across the street. Then a horn honks and I look up to see Derek driving a car, trying to turn into the driveway and when his eyes meet mine I swear he looks like he might explode. We get out of the way and he quickly pulls in and turns his car off. He opens the door.

“Oh, hey, Derek,” Felix says.

“Felix,” Derek says as he gets out of the car and then he stares angrily at me. “What are _you_ doing here?”

I stare at him. I have no idea what I even did to him. “Uh, Benji invited us swimming. We were just leaving.” I sort of roll my eyes and turn to walk away.

Then I hear Benji’s voice in the distance. “Hey!”

“Hi,” Derek says coldly. “What the hell are _they_ doing here?”

“Uh, you were at your band thing. Lucy came over to go swimming and we invited those three to join us. That’s all.”

“Lucy was here?”

“Yeah,” Benji confirms and then we’re too far down the sidewalk to make out the rest of the conversation.

“So, what did you do to Derek?” Felix says as we round the corner. “I didn’t even know you’d met him yet.”

“What d’you mean? Doesn’t he just hate everyone? And I met him last night. It’s a long story.” I know what he means. It’s pretty obvious that Derek hates me significantly more than everyone else. He didn’t even seem to notice my sister’s existence today and he happily conversed with Mia last night. He even acknowledged Felix.

“Um, that look he gave you was pure unadulterated murderous rage. What the hell happened last night to cause that?”

“Nothing happened last night. Benji and Derek just ended up at the same movie showing that Mia and I were at and we talked to them for a like a second afterwards. He already seemed to hate me pretty bad then, to be fair. But Mia said he doesn’t like anyone, so…”

“He doesn’t _like_ anyone, except apparently Benji, though I sometimes wonder about that even. But he doesn’t like want to murder everyone and he very clearly wants to murder you, buddy, so clearly you said something he didn’t like.”

I try to think of the entire encounter from the night before. “Uh, I accused Benji of stalking me; jokingly of course. Because he was literally in the car when I bought those tickets, but he apparently forgot about it until he saw us there.” I laugh a little.

“Hmm,” Felix says. “But you were like _on a date with Mia_. I don’t understand…”

“What are you thinking right now?”

“I mean, if I was a betting man, I'd put money on Derek thinking Benji likes you… like that he likes you-likes you which is obviously irrelevant even if true, because you’re dating Mia, but like…”

I try not to think about that and then I remember something I heard Lucy say the very first time I met her. She doesn’t know I heard that and Benji doesn’t know that either, but I heard it. _“I’d ask about the new kid, too, but you can’t seem to shut up about him, so that seems unnecessary.”_ And he didn’t correct her; he didn’t even tell her to shut up; he just carried on the conversation like that was nothing. This whole revelation has my head spinning again and I don’t even know what I’m thinking now. I keep trying to remind myself that Benji has a boyfriend and is off the table; that I need to focus on Mia, but then it circles back to that boyfriend apparently thinking Benji likes me. I don’t hear a single word my sister of Felix speak on the entire walk home and I hope they don’t notice how lost in my own head I am. When we walk into the apartment my mom looks up from the piano.

“You could've called. I would've come and got you,” she says.

“It’s fine,” I say. “It’s nice out and we needed the exercise.”

“You’re literally about to start band camp, Victor. The last thing you need is more exercise. You’re skinny enough; both of you.” I shrug and walk toward my room. Pilar just walks to her room without responding at all.


	32. Part 7B - Ice Breaker Picnic, Part 1

We go to church on Sunday and when we’re leaving, it’s a mess of ‘I’ll see you in a couple hours’, because the ice breaker picnic starts at 4:30. I finally manage to remember to ask my parents if we can give Felix a ride and they seem concerned that his mom isn’t going and I don’t know what to tell them. My mom makes her rice as soon as we get home and my dad runs to the grocery store to get a few cases of soda as that was our second promised item for the picnic.

After I’m dressed for the picnic, I walk over to Pilar’s room and knock. Before she can tell me to go away, I ask, “Can I come in?”

“Oh, yeah,” she says and I open the door.

I walk in and close the door behind myself. “Hey, even though there’s no way Mom did what you think she did; we need answers.”

She looks impressed as I go to sit next to her on the bed. “Damn! Mom’s little golden boy turned on her,” she says, nudging me with her elbow.

“I didn’t turn. I just wanna prove he’s some random stalker and move on with our lives. So, should we just ask her who he is?”

“No way. She’d just make up some lie.”

“So, what d’you think we should do?”

“I’ve already been doing it. I’ve been messaging him all day as Mom.”

“Pilar!” I say, trying very hard not to shout as I grab her arm.

“What? She won’t know, and get this: he’s coming to _Lancaster_ on Thursday to attend a conference and he wants to see Mom.”

“That’s not good.” I shake my head a little.

“The only conference he’s trying to attend is in Mom’s pants. I think we should go meet up with him in her place. But before you say no…”

“Let’s do it.”

“Really?”

“Really,” I say with a sigh and a nod. “We have camp until 3, but then we can take the bus down.”

She smirks and nods at me. “Wow.”

“Shush,” I say and the I walk out her room. Just knowing that on Thursday afternoon we’ll know for sure what's going on, gives me some peace of mind. I close her door when I leave and then I walk into the kitchen. “Smells good, Mami.”

She laughs a little. “I hope your new friends are prepared for this,” she says looking up at me with a wink and I laugh a little, too.

“Almost done, right?” She nods. “Can I try it?”

She laughs and bats my arm with the back of her hand. Then she looks at me and rolls her eyes. “Get a spoon, hurry. I’m about to cover it. Your dad’ll be home any minute and then we can leave.” I grab a spoon out of the silverware drawer and walk back to the stove to taste the rice and of course it’s amazing.

“Okay, you’ve definitely still got it,” I say and I try to smile at her, but I can’t stop thinking about Pilar’s revelation. She laughs a little and I drop the spoon in the sink as she pulls the aluminum foil out of a drawer and wraps the tray of rice.

When we arrive at the park half an hour later, Pilar immediately walks away from the car, but quickly realizes she has no idea where we’re going, so she doesn’t get very far. Felix points to the pavilion on the other side of a white and green building down a paved path. My dad carries the rice and Felix carries his brownies. “Hermana, if you don’t come over here and carry one of these cases of soda, I’m throwing a water balloon at your face later,” I yell toward Pilar. She rolls her eyes, but walks back over and picks one up and I carry the other. My mom closes the trunk and we all follow Felix down the path.

Mr. Fairchild and Mr. Garrett are already there, standing beside a grill in the grass across the path from the pavilion. They look up when we get close. “Felix! Victor!” Mr. Garrett says and then he pauses as he tries to remember my sister’s name. She rolls her eyes and keeps walks.

“Sorry about her,” I mutter as we start to follow.

Mr. Garrett chuckles a little. “What’s your sister’s name again?”

“Pilar,” I say, “and these are my parents. Where should we put this stuff.”

“Mrs. Stokes is chairing the event; she should be in the kitchen and can direct you. Or any of the other parents in there on the committee,” Mr. Fairchild says.

“Thanks,” I say and we walk into the pavilion. Mrs. Stokes is leaning over a counter from the indoor kitchen when we get there.

“Hi, Isabel,” she says to my mom and then glances at my dad. “Is that a standard buffet pan? Does it need to be warm?”

“Yes to both,” my mom says. “Perfect just set it in one of those racks out there. One of the dads is gonna go through and light the sterno once everything’s out.” My mom nods and walks toward the table with the buffet racks.

“Felix, are those your famous brownies?” one of the other moms I don’t recognize asks.

“Sure are, Mrs. Olson, where d’you want ‘em?”

“Desserts on the far table, dear,” she says. “And you two must be the Salazar kids, yeah?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

“Okay, uh, sodas can go in any of the coolers on the benches on the other side of those tables. They should all already have ice in them.”

“Thanks!” I say. Pilar and I walk around the table and open a cooler. We open the cases of soda and dump the cans in on the ice. Felix joins us. “So whose mom was that?”

He laughs. “Uh, Emily Olson. She’s a junior clarinet, but her older sister Kirsten just graduated and played trumpet, so the Olsons have been staples of the BPA for eons now and their reign looks to continue when Luke gets to high school in a few years. Trig, Mr. Olson, is the ultimate band dad; he’ll be your favorite on competition days.”

“Oh?”

“Well, he’s my favorite. Him and Mr. Moore help unload the trucks and are general awesome at just doing the heavy lifting when we need them to. Our official 'pit crew'.”

“Who’s Mr. Moore?”

“Bri’s dad. She’s a senior flute… or actually I think she’s playing picc this year.”

“Ah,” I say and then I look around at who else has arrived. I see a lot of faces I recognize and a lot that I don’t. The band is definitely big enough that I haven’t met everyone yet. Eventually I spot Mia and Lake on the swings and nudge Felix before nodding in their direction. We walk over. “Hey,” I say when we approach; neither seems to have noticed us coming.

“Victor!” Lake says looking up. She glances at Felix, but doesn’t even acknowledge his presence otherwise. “Mia was telling me all about your little date from Friday…”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, uh, we had a good time.”

“Sounds like it.”

Felix clears his throat, but before he can say anything, Andrew walks over and if that doesn’t kill the mood immediately, I’m not sure what else could. “Andrew,” Mia says coldly, looking up at him.

“Why are you still hanging out with these losers?” he groans as he sits on the empty swing next to Mia. I guess he didn’t hear we were going on a date.

“Um,” Mia starts to say and then she looks at me. “They’re not losers, Andrew.”

He rolls his eyes. “Are you like taking on charity cases now?”

“Oh my _God_ , you are _so_ rude,” she says and then she gets to her feet and hooks her arm through mine. “Come on, Victor, let’s go somewhere else.”

As we walk away, I hear Andrew asking Lake what _that_ was all about and then she says, “Um, Mia and Victor are dating, or well they went on a date Friday night.” Either Andrew doesn’t say anything or we’re too far away to hear him. I don’t turn around to find out.

Felix and Lake join us a few minutes later as we’re walking toward a small creek that runs along the back of the park. “Andrew is such a jackass,” Felix says, exasperated. Lake gives him a look.

“I can’t believe you like him,” Mia says and Felix’s mouth drops open.

“Who doesn’t love a bad boy?”

“Um, Andrew isn’t a ‘bad boy’ as Felix so gently put it, he’s a jackass. You’re just delusional and gold digger,” Mia says, staring at her best friend. Felix looks at me and I shrug a little because I have no idea what to say to that.

I look around again and see Benji walking toward the pavilion from the parking lot... with Derek. Well, I guess that means I can focus on Mia today without overthinking anything. If Felix is right, I should probably just steer clear of that whole situation, regardless of how happy it would make me if that were true. I don’t want to be a homewrecker or whatever the hell you want to call it. Felix’s phone buzzes as I turn back around and he pulls it out, reads a message and quickly responds before looking at me. “So, Cassie and Shawn just got her and apparently the Williamses did, too. We are being requested to save all of them from Cassie’s mom and Mrs. Williams.”

I laugh. “Are their moms really that bad?”

“Yes!” all three of my companions say in unison.

“Oh, this just like a known fact?”

“It is,” Mia says. “Don’t start a conversation with Mrs. Williams because it will _never_ end and she will complain to you about things you do _not_ want to hear about. And Cassie’s mom is just weird.”

We all start to walk back toward the pavilion until Cassie sees us and waves too vigorously to be necessary. We all laugh as we walk over to her. “Hey, guys!” she says with a forced huge smile.

“Save us,” the guy next to her says under his breath. “Wait, who are you? I don’t think we’ve met,” he adds when he looks at me.

“Victor.”

“That’s not a lot to go on, bud. What d’you play? Are you a freshman or just new?”

“Uh, sophomore, just moved here from Texas at the beginning of last month and drumline, snare,” I say with a little laugh.

“He lives a couple buildings over from Felix,” Cassie says. “His sister’s around here somewhere, too.”

“Ah,” the guy says and then he leans to Cassie and whispers, “Since when do rich flute players hang out with Felix Weston?” I think he’s trying to make us not hear him, but obviously that doesn’t work.

Cassie laughs. “Since one of them is dating his best friend.” She turns to me and Mia. “How was your date anyway, you two?”

“Good,” we say at the same time and then we both laugh and everyone smiles at us.

“Gonna need more than that,” Cassie prompts.

“Um, it was nice? We had dinner and watched a movie? We talked a lot?” I say. I don’t know what Cassie wants me to say. I also don’t know what Mia thinks or wants to share, so I glance at Mia and she smiles at me.

“And kissed… once or twice.”

Cassie gasps and covers her mouth as if that’s scandalous. Everyone else laughs. “Kissing on the first date, you little rebels.”

The guy who I still don’t know rolls his eyes. “Yeah, because we _definitely_ didn’t do that.”

“Nope. Definitely not,” Cassie agrees and I can tell they’re not being serious, and also, I guess, the mystery guy must be Cassie’s boyfriend.

“From what I hear, people were just glad y’all waited until after he graduated to start dating, because… well,” Felix says. Cassie sticks her tongue out at him and he laughs. “I can get Emilee and Amy to come over here, because I’m a hundred percent sure they’d both agree.” Cassie rolls her eyes, but then gives him a look like she’s proud of him. It’s then that I remember our purpose in returning the pavilion. Felix looks around and spots the Williams sisters near the counter with who I assume must be their parents. He walks over to them, says something, and they follow him back.

“You are my new favorite, kid,” Amy says as they arrive. Felix laughs.

“I try. Cassie texted us when you guys got here to come save you.”

“And that’s why we keep her around,” Emilee says with a smile.

“That and because we’ve been friends since the first day of second grade, so you’re not getting rid of me that easy,” Cassie says with a wink and they both laugh.

“I mean, I also keep you around so I can feel like a rebel when we get yelled at in concert band and because no one else will actually ride the zipper with me at the fair now that Amy runs away to Clarion.”

“What’s the zipper?” I ask.

“Um, a ride,” Emilee says.

“Descriptive,” Cassie jokes.

“Shut up.”

“It’s this weird thing where you sit in oddly shaped cars that claim to hold three people but if you’re fully grown, they barely hold two and then rotates,” she does an oblong vertical motion with her hands. “And the whole thing turns, too and the cars spin with gravity or whatever so you usually end up upside down more often than not. It apparently makes people sick, but we love it.”

I laugh. “That sounds fun, but slightly concerning.”

“We’ll show you when the fair happens.”

“Oh, for the record,” Amy says out of nowhere, turning to Cassie. “Yes, everyone is very glad you two didn’t start dating until he graduated. No one needs to see that.”

“You graduated with him, so like…” Cassie tries to argue.

“Exactly. I’ve only had to see it in the summer and at Christmas; it’s truly a miracle anymore survives more than that,” she says.

Cassie rolls her eyes again and Shawn laughs. “We’re not _that_ bad, are we?”

“You are,” Emilee says. “It’s disgusting. I’m glad you’re happy, but keep your hands and mouths to yourselves in public, for God’s sake. Both literally and figuratively.” She laughs at her own joke and I see Cassie trying not to.

“Okay, well, there’s _your_ boyfriend, so you can shut up now,” Cassie says and nods to three people walking toward the pavilion.

Emilee doesn’t say anything as she runs to greet them. Cory hands the foil pan he’s carrying to who I can only assume his is dad and follows Emilee back toward us. "You two met on the Knoebel's trip, right?" Emilee says look at me for a second and then back to Cory. We both nod.

“Oh, I totally never actually introduced myself to you, did I?” Shawn sudden realizes.

I laugh. “Uh, no, you did not, but I sort of gathered you must be Shawn, right?”

He nods. “Indeed. Sorry.”

I laugh and shake my head a little. “It’s fine.” Then I glance around and I don’t see my parents or my sister anywhere. “Where the hell did Pilar go?”

Felix looks around, too, and then shrugs. “Bathroom maybe? Or to find somewhere to sit with your parents on the other side.”

“Do you not remember how much she currently hates my mom?” I say with a laugh. “I mean, I’m not super thrilled with her at the moment, either, to be fair.”

“What happened?” he says.

I shrug. “Like I said when we were walking home from Benji’s yesterday. It’s complicated. I don’t really wanna talk about it.”

“Okay,” Felix says and then I notice Mia’s looking at me.

“What?”

“You were at Benji’s yesterday?”

“Uh, yeah,” I say. “He invited us and Pilar to go swimming with him and Lucy while Derek was at some band thing in Millersville. Also, I’m pretty sure Derek actually hates me and it’s not just his dislike of everyone,” I say with a laugh.

“Definitely. I’m pretty sure if murder wasn’t illegal, you’d be dead already,” Felix says.

“Derek the former drum major?” Shawn asks and we all nod. “Wait, are he and Benji a thing? I didn’t know Benji was gay…”

We all stare at him. “Where have you been, dude?” Felix says.

“Millersville.”

“Being lame and not doing band, right.”

Shawn makes a face, but doesn’t say anything. “I do choir? And theatre?”

“Lame,” Felix says.

“Okay, so anyway, fill me in here. When did that happen?”

“Benji being gay or him dating Derek?” Felix asks.

“Both?”

“Uh, well they just kind of showed up to Homecoming together last year,” Cassie says.

“But apparently they’ve been together since last September,” Felix adds. “At least that's the rumor I’ve heard.”

“That’s,” Shawn starts to say, but then he pauses and looks at Cassie. “Interesting to say the least.”

“Do you know something we don’t?” Felix asks.

“Love some hot gos',” Lake adds.

He shakes his head. “No, no. I just must have heard wrong, that’s all.”

“Wait.” Felix says and looks at him. “Did Derek cheat on Benji?”

“Like I said, I probably heard wrong. No need to go ruining relationships over inaccurate gossip,” he says, but his lips are tight and I’m a little concerned. I make a mental note to ask Cassie about it later, but maybe I shouldn’t. Maybe I shouldn’t care. Maybe I should just let what is be and forget about the whole thing. I’ll probably ask though.

“Okay, better topic!” Cassie says suddenly. I think that means she knows what Shawn’s talking about which is both relieving and slightly frightening. “Victor, remember that restaurant I mentioned during our Hersheypark trip when Benji was making fun of me for being biased toward Pittsburgh operations?” I nod. “Does Wednesday night work for you and Mia? Shawn has off, so we can pick you guys up after I go home and shower and whatever from camp.”

I look at Mia. “Does that work for you?”

“Um, yeah, it should, but where are we going?”

“Primanti’s,” Cassie says.

“Ah, I thought maybe with the mention of Pittsburgh that might be it. Yeah, that’s fine. Just let me know when I should be ready. It’s not the most vegetarian friendly place in the world, but I think I can figure something out.”

“Damn, I didn’t know you were a vegetarian.”

Mia shrugs. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Everywhere has at least one option these days.”

“If you’re sure. And we’ll be in Shawn’s car so you guys don’t have to squish in the back of mine. He doesn’t let me drive if he can help it.”

“Her driving frightens me, too,” Amy says. “I don’t blame you.”

“Same,” Emilee agrees.

“Ah, yes, I believe it was Mia that called you a notoriously bad driver,” I say and Cassie gives Mia a look and Mia chuckles uncomfortably.

“She is!” Emilee says. “I swear I’ve seen my life flash before my eyes when she’s driving back her road. It’s terrifying.”

“Just for the record, I don’t let her drive because I get carsick if I’m not driving.”

“At least someone isn’t a jerk,” Cassie says and then she kisses Shawn’s cheek, or she tries to. He turns his head and actually kisses her instead.

“And _this_ is what we were talking about,” Amy says. “Gross.”

Everyone sort of laughs and then I hear Mr. Fairchild’s voice booming over the crowd. “Okay, it’s time to eat! Go ahead and get in line, grab a plate and what not. Grab the bun for your hamburger or hot dog over there and then come see us by the grill on your way to a table! We’ll do camp announcements in about half-an-hour once everyone has food.”

The picnic committee turns out to include Mrs. Stokes, Mrs. Olson, Mrs. Stokes’s twin sister that we saw on the fourth of July and Mallory’s mom that I recognize from church. There’re also two other moms I don’t know. After we have food, I sit down with my friends; none of us even look for our parents first. “Okay, so I know Mrs. Stokes, Mrs. Olson, and Mallory’s mom. Who are the other three on this committee?” I ask. “I mean obviously one of them is Mrs. Stokes twin, because yikes are they identical.”

“Pammy and Tammy went to school with my mom. I think they actually lived like across the street growing up if I remember correctly. And Mr. Stokes, too. My mom was in color guard her freshman year and he was the drum major,” Cassie says.

“That’s Mrs. Stokes and her twin, right?”

“Yep. Pam Stokes and Tammy Terry. Both of their kids are freshmen. I mean Tammy has a son that’s a junior, too, but he plays football like some kind of loser.”

“Both literally and figuratively,” Emilee says. “Because our football team _sucks_ and Taco’s just a loser in general.”

“Taco?”

Emilee and Cassie laugh. “His name’s actually Chad, but everyone calls him Taco for whatever reason,” Cassie explains. “You said you know Mrs. Werner, right? Mallory’s mom?”

I nod. “They go to our church.”

“You're catholic?” Cassie asks.

“My parents are, so by default, yeah, I guess.”

“Okay, so the taller lady you don’t know is Mrs. Grantham, Kristin’s mom. The shorter one is Mrs. Finley, Tiffany’s mom.”

“Kristin as in Mallory’s best friend, right?” She nods. “Who’s Tiffany.”

“Junior; plays flute,” Mia says and then she looks around and describes where Tiffany is sitting, so I glance over and nod; I’ve definitely seen her in rehearsal.

A few minutes after we sit down, Teresa and Byron walk over and sit down with us without asking first; no one seems to care. That’s when it dawns on me, I still don’t know where my sister is, so I look around again and finally see her on the opposite corner of the pavilion, sitting with Clare, Ellen, Theresa, and surprisingly, Lucy. “I thought Derek liked Lucy?” I say, glancing at Felix.

“Huh?”

“She’s sitting with my sister, the Dickersons, and Theresa with an h; and I have no idea where Benji and Derek even are… I would've expected her to be with them.” I nod toward the opposite corner.

“Oh, Derek only likes Lucy when she’s being a cockblock on Benji when he's; like he said yesterday. Obviously he doesn't let her be a cockblock for _him_.” No one else even seems to notice our conversation.

“Cassie, where are your cousins?” Emilee asks.

“Oh, good question. Allow me to… ah yes. My mother has worked her way into sitting with my their family. I’m gonna go see if they want to come sit with us instead. I am _not_ bringing my brother, though.”

“But your brother’s cute!” Emilee says.

“And annoying. No,” Cassie says as she walks away.

She returns a minute later with both Matt and Mike in tow; each carrying a massive plate of food and a can of soda. We scoot together to make room. When Cassie sits down she seems to realize something. “Okay, that’s funny; we have three different state schools represented by the alumni of our group.”

“Huh?” Mia says.

Cassie points to Shawn and says, “Millersville.” Then to Amy and says, “Clarion.” Then to Matt and says, “I.U.P.”

“Oh wow! Do any of you still do band? What are you majors?”

“I do! I’m even in a band fraternity!” Amy says.

“That’s a thing?” I asks.

“It is. Kappa Kappa Psi. I’m a Library Science major though.”

“So you wanna be a librarian?” Mia asks.

“That’s the goal.”

“Cool,” Mia says and then she turns to Shawn.

“I don’t do band which is apparently lame. I do still do theatre and choir though. I’m an English Ed major; theatre minor.”

“What level of English do you wanna teach?” Mia asks.

“High school to start; maybe eventually college. And I’d like to still be involved in theatre once I’m teaching, too.”

“Very nice,” Mia says and then she turns to Matt. “And you?”

“Not doing band,” he says.

“Seriously?” Cassie groans. “Lame.”

“Shush. Um, I’m doing the B.F.A. Art Studio program.”

“What do you wanna do with it?”

“I mean, making money from doing art is kind of my dream, but,” he says and then he shrugs a little.

“Oh my god, wait, you guys haven’t heard Matt’s good news yet!”

“What?” Emilee says and then she looks at Matt with a tilted head. Cassie and Mike both laugh and the rest of us turn out of curiosity.

Matt rolls his eyes. “I broke up with Chad the other day.”

“Fucking finally,” Shawn says. “He’s such an asshole.”

“Didn’t you like hook up with him when you guys were in high school be started dating?”

“Might’ve happened,” Shawn admits with a chuckle. “But I’d never _date_ him.”

Matt rolls his eyes. “I just sort of wanted to be open to more possibilities when I get to college next month and he’s staying here, so it’s not like we’d see each other much and whatever, I guess.”

Before anyone can say anything else, Mr. Fairchild is clearing his throat and asking for silence from the other end of the pavilion. “Good afternoon!” he says once everyone calms down and is turned to look at him. “I just wanted to start of with saying, thank you to all of you for coming out today and thanks to the picnic committee for making sure the event has gone smoothly so far. I want to go over some announcements related to band camp right now. Most of this is stuff we went over at the kick off meeting in May, but a little reminder never hurt anyone.” He allows himself a small chuckle and I can almost feel the collective eye roll. “First of all, each day of camp has a theme to encourage unity among the unit and everyone is strongly encouraged to participate each day, but it's not required. Tomorrow is sports day so wear your favorite college or pro jersey or if you play a winter or spring sport for the school, feel free to wear something from that, too. We’ll make a reminder announcement each day before dismissal about the next day’s theme. When you arrive for camp, which as a reminder should be at least fifteen minutes prior to the scheduled start of rehearsal (which is eight o'clock this week and two o'clock next week), report to the band room first and check the small white board near the ammo box for the day’s schedule. There’ll be a column for each guard, winds, drumline and pit. The schedule is subject to change, but the board should give you a good idea of what to expect. Then have a seat and get your instrument ready to go. We’ll start each day with about five minutes of announcements in the band room before we start rehearsal. Also, the season t-shirts are here and you can pick yours up before you leave tonight. Bags will be labeled with the student’s full name and alphabetized by last name on the tables. The Dinkles rep will be here on this coming Wednesday to size any rookies and anyone else that needs new shoes as well as take money and orders for gloves. Make sure you send the check to camp with your student on Wednesday. Pricing is on the handout from the meeting in May. If you need another copy, I have a few with me; just let me know. Remember all applicable members need to have two good pairs of gloves. If you have yours from last season, please make sure they’re in the good condition before Wednesday and have money for new ones if necessary.” He takes a second to breathe and think before he continues. “And we’re changing up how we do uniform distribution and bus sign ups this year. We used to do it at lunch, but we’ve decided to do it during sectionals on Monday and Tuesday of next week instead. Monday will be seniors and juniors; Tuesday will be sophomores and freshmen. Color guard you don’t need to worry about it as you’ll all be on bus three and you’ll be sized for your uniforms to be ordered separately. Everyone else, on your class’s assigned day, please wear bottoms without zippers to rehearsal so that you can try on your uniform if need be. I know most vets wont actually need to if you remember your number from last year and haven't grown, but please no zippers just in case.” He pauses again and Chris walks up and whispers something to him. “I’m being told percussion doesn’t need to sign up for busses either as you’ll all be on bus two, but you do need to get your uniform and hat box at your assigned time. Do we have any other amendments or announcements from staff or S.L.C.?” He looks around and waits, but no one says anything. “Perfect. I will let you all get back to your meal and then at 5:30 we’ll start some games over in front of the band shell for the current members only! Sorry alumni and siblings. We just don’t have enough supplies.”

There’re some groans as Mr. Fairchild walks back toward a table and sits down next to a blonde woman that must be his wife and two tiny blonde girls that must be his children. The children both look exactly like his wife in miniature and it’s kind of adorable. As I’m turning back to my friends, I catch a glance of Benji and Derek out of the corner of my eye. They’re sitting together but away from everyone else. Not even Benji’s mom is with them; and then I remember what he’d said and I get a little sad. I don’t realize I’m staring until he looks up from his plate of food and our eyes meet. He smiles at me for a brief second and then Derek’s head whips around and his eyes meet mine, too and his are filled with that same murderous rage from yesterday, so I quickly finish turning around and try not to think about Felix’s thoughts on the reasoning for that.


	33. Part 7C - Ice Breaker Picnic, Part 2

When we start to see people congregating in the large open field in front of the band shell, we all get up to join them. Amy, Shawn, and Matt migrate closer, but as they’re not allowed to play the games they stop before we actually walk out into the sun. When we get there, I notice my sister didn’t walk over with Ellen, Clare, and Theresa so I turn around to look for her. She’s sitting cross-legged in the grass at the edge of the shade. I walk toward her. “Are you not playing?”

“Nope.”

“Why not?

“Because these stupid picnic games are are all childish. I only came this far so mom and dad wouldn’t try to come sit with me.”

I sigh. “You can go hang out with Amy and Matt and Cassie’s boyfriend if you want,” I say and I point to where they’re sitting in the grass, too. “They all graduated so aren’t allowed to play.”

She looks and then gets to her feet and sighs. “Mom’s less likely to come ask why I’m not playing if I do that, so sure.” She starts walking and I follow her. They all look up when we arrive and Pilar drops back to the ground. “My sister is refusing to play games, so I told her to come sit with you guys. Hope that’s okay?”

“Of course!” Amy says. “Hey, Pilar.”

“Hi,” she says flatly.

I walk away before any of them can say anything else and go back to the rest of my friends that aren’t being complete party poopers. “So, what’s first?” I ask, trying to look around the people in front of us.

“Looks lake water balloons,” Cassie says as she goes up on tiptoe to see. “Emilee?” she says with a cheesy grin that’s all teeth.

“Yeah, alright. Just don’t throw it at my face.”

“Obviously not, we’re trying to win!”

Mia nudges against me with her shoulder. “Play with me?”

“Sure,” I say with a little smile. Lake looks offended by this.

And Felix seems to get an idea. “And who am I supposed to play with?” he asks. “Both of my potential partners taken!” he adds dramatically with a hand on his heart.

Lake catches on and rolls her eyes. “Fine, but don’t be weird.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, m’lady,” Felix says in an accent that I can’t even place.

“And you failed,” Lake says as she turns away from him to stare at Mia.

Mia offers her a sympathetic smile and a shrug as she laces her fingers through mine and pulls me toward the field. We pass Benji and Lucy as we’re walking and he half-smiles at me, so I smile back for a second. Mia’s hand tightens in mine and I wonder if she knows. “So, do you wanna do the backsteps or should I?” she asks when we stop next to the bucket of balloons.

“Huh?”

“Oh, each round, one partner does an eight-to-five back step before the next toss. It’s the marching band way of keeping things fair,” she says with a laugh.

“I mean, logical.” She shrugs.

As we’re directed to line up, I decide to have Mia be the one to move between rounds and then as if the world just wants to torture me. Benji and Lucy are put next to us, and Benji takes the spot directly next to me while Lucy goes to stand next to Mia. “Hey,” he says quietly and I turn to look at him. He smiles at me, so I smile back.

“Hey.”

“Your mom made that Spanish rice, right?”

“I mean, it’s called _Arroz con gandules_ and it’s Puerto Rican not Spanish, but yeah, sure.”

He laughs a little. “Well excuse me. I was just going to say it was good.”

I nod. “She makes it for every potluck situation, so get used to it. It’s apparently the national dish of Puerto Rico or something.” I shrug. “It’s her mom’s recipe.”

He nods a little. “Well, it was tasty.”

Mrs. Smith walks down the line and hands each pair a balloon. “On my whistle, you’ll make your first toss,” Mr. Fairchild says from behind the other line of people. After that, if you’re balloon hasn’t popped, the line on my side with take one backstep. Try to keep it to an eight-to-five to make things fair, please. Understand?” We all nod. “And we’ll keep going until only one pair remains.” He puts a whistle in his mouth, looks around for a second and then blows.

I toss the balloon toward Mia and she catches it with ease. Lucy catches the one Benji throws, too. I look around and there’s a few wet people and I think their partners must have been trying that, because we were so close together, it was nearly impossible to not catch this one. “Alright, if your balloon popped, please step out.” The folks with wet shirts and their partners all step out of line. “Now, this side, take one step backwards, please.” They do and then Mr. Fairchild raises his whistle again. Thies continues on and on until there’s only a handful of partners left.

Emilee and Cassie; me and Mia; Benji and Lucy; Robert and a girl with reddish hair I don’t know; and a pair of girls I know neither of are all that’s left. Mr. Fairchild has us condense closer to each other and then he has the other line take another step backwards. We’re pretty far apart now; at least ten yards, so it’s getting trickier. Mr. Fairchild raises his whistle and blows. Mia tosses the balloon toward me, but I know before it’s even halfway across the distance that this isn’t going to end well. She put too much gusto into it and it crashes directly into my chest, even as I try to catch it.

Lucy’s toss lands at Benji’s feet; she must have had the opposite problem. He glances at me and chuckles a little. I look around. The two girls I don’t know are out, too. But Cassie and the red-haired girl both caught their balloons from Emilee and Robert respectively. The rest of us all step away and Mia apologizes for getting me wet. “Don’t worry about it,” I tell her and she smiles at me before taking my hand again. Benji looks at our hands and nods a little, but doesn’t say anything as Lucy walks over, too.

“Who’s your money on?” Lucy asks as the last remaining pairs shift next to each other on the field.

“Robert and Cindy,” Felix says. I didn’t even realize he’d walked over.

“But Cassie and Emilee are your friends, no?” Lake asks.

“Yes, but they’re not athletic. I think Robert and Cindy have a better chance.”

“That’s not true, Emilee played softball when she was a kid,” someone says and I look up to see Cory’s joined us, too.

“Okay, well Cassie’s painfully unathletic, so it balances out. I don’t know if she can even throw it that far,” Felix says, “so my money’s on Robert and Cindy.”

“Who is Cindy, by the way? I don’t think I’ve met her yet,” I ask.

“Mello section leader,” Benji says. “She and Emilee actually did high school marching band their eighth-grade year so they’ve both been in for five years.”

“How’s that work?”

“They had two people quit last minute; like right before camp and needed to fill the holes. Amy was already in band, so Garrett asked Emilee to take over for the sax that dropped and they needed a Mello and there were none left in the high school that weren’t already in marching band, so he asked Cindy to do it.”

Robert and Emilee take another step backwards and Mr. Fairchild raises his whistle back to his lips. When he blows, Cassie and Cindy both launch their balloons toward their partners and I guess it’s a good thing Felix didn’t bet Lucy any actual money, because Cindy’s pops right on top of Robert’s head as Emilee expertly catches the one Cassie threw. “What was that Felix?” Cory says. “Hope that teaches you to bet against your friends.” He laughs and walks forward to congratulate Emilee (and Cassie).

When Mr. Fairchild announced the three-legged race is next, Cassie hooks her arm through Emilee’s and they walk toward him to get the piece to string. Apparently, they’re seasoned pros at this or something. Benji catches my eye for a second, but he’s still standing next to Lucy. “I’ll do it with you, just give me a second,” I ask when Felix looks at me. “Mia’s doing it with Lake.”

“Sweet!” he says and then I walk toward Benji and Lucy.

“So, I’d a hundred percent ask you do this with me because we’re stupidly in sync during practice so I have a feeling we’d be amazing, but I’m kind of afraid your boyfriend might murder me for that.”

Lucy nods exaggeratedly and Benji sighs. “I’m sorry about him. He’s… I even don’t know.”

“It’s okay,” I say. “I’m just gonna do it with Felix, but I wanted you to know that I totally think we’d win.” He laughs a little and smiles at me, so I smile back and then as I’m going to turn around and walk back to Felix, I notice Derek watching and sigh. “Like I said.”

Benji looks over at him and makes a face I don’t understand as I walk toward Mr. Fairchild with Felix. “What was that about?” he asks.

I laugh. “I was just telling Benji that if I wasn’t afraid of being murdered by his boyfriend for even thinking about it; I’d think he and I would be bomb at this because we’re always so in sync.”

Felix laughs. “That’s actually really true, but yeah, I’m pretty sure Derek would actually murder you.”

“Exactly,” I say and then I take the piece of string Mr. Fairchild holds out.

Felix and I actually do half-decently, but Benji and Lucy fall on their faces halfway through. They’re both laughing though, so I guess they’re okay. Emilee and Cassie win by almost a full second. I swear they’re almost actually running somehow; it’s insane. Mia and Lake finish right before Felix and I do.

The final game is the dizzy bat relay that Felix told me about. Mr. Fairchild tells us to find teams of four and then we’ll do it tournament style. Felix and I end up on a team with Mia and Lake. Benji and Lucy are with two color guard girls I don’t recognize beyond knowing that they’re in guard. There’re only four bats, so teams go four at a time and then the winners of each of those races go against each other and so and so forth. I notice after awhile that someone convinced my sister to play because she’s on a team with the Dickersons and Theresa in the fourth heat; they lose spectacularly, but it’s hilarious to watch and I’m glad they got Pilar to play. My team goes in the sixth group and we somehow manage to win.

There’re thirty-two total teams, so it takes eight rounds until everyone’s gone once. Then there’s two semi-final rounds with the winners of each of the eight first round matches. In the semi-final rounds the first two teams to finish advance so there’s four teams in the final round. We manage to get second in our semi-final match-up, so we get ready for the final round.

The first lane is a group of four seniors that I’m told all play mellophone. Robert, Cindy, and Ben I recognize and I’m told the tall guy with blond dreads is named Kaleb. The next lane is Emilee, Cassie, Mindy, and the tiny clarinet player called Gwen. Then our team and the last lane as luck would have is occupied by Benji, Lucy, and the two guard girls. “Who are the other two girls on Benji and Lucy’s team?” I ask my teammates.

Mia looks over. “Emilie Rose and Marissa Patenaude; both guard; both juniors.”

“How many Emilys are in this band?” I ask.

They all laugh. “Too many,” Felix says. “We need to decide on an order.”

“I’ll go first,” Mia volunteers and we allow it. We end up settling on Mia-Felix-Lake-Me, which is a slight re-arrangement from previous rounds. What I’m not expecting is Mr. Fairchild’s next announcement.

“Because this is for all the marbles, we’re going to say SIX rotations this time before you can run down to get your tennis ball, okay? And we have a parent at each station, counting, so no cheating.” I glance over at the mom standing next to us. I don’t know who she is. All the previous rounds have been four rotations and I’ve been pretty dizzy, so I’m a little concerned about this change.

When Lake gets back with her tennis balls, she drops it in our bucket and high-fives me, so I put my face on the bat. I realized a while ago that I’m going to be running head-to-head with Benji which you know sounds absolutely fabulous when there’s a huge potential of one or both of us falling flat on our faces. I make my six circles as quickly as possible and then I drop the bat and stand up. The world is spinning, but I take off down the small hill toward the box of tennis balls. I don’t even make it to the bottom of the hill when my feet go out from under me and I tumble, head-first down the rest of the hill. What I don’t realize immediately, is that I’m not falling straight forward, I’m also rolling to my left; and I only realize _that_ when I roll directly into the back of Benji’s legs and he falls literally on top of me. I hear a couple gasps in the distance, but they’re all pretty quickly drowned out by the laughter that bursts out of Benji and his laughter is infectious and beautiful, so I’m laughing, too. Of course, that means we both lose the race, but I don’t care because this moment is sort of perfect.

Eventually I manage to squeak out a “sorry” between my laughs and he squeaks out an “it’s okay” and we both keep laughing until someone is standing over us clearing their throat. I don’t need to look up to know who it is.

“Are you okay?”

“Obviously? We were _laughing_ in case you didn’t catch that part,” Benji says, clearly agitated.

“So, get up,” Derek says.

“Yeah,” Benji says quietly and then he moves until we’re disentangled. He sits up and looks at me, apologies in his eyes. “Are _you_ okay?”

I smile at him. “Fine. I’m sorry I knocked you over.”

“It’s okay,” he says. “It was funny.” But both of us have lost any sense humor now. Benji looks back at Derek and I glance, too. He holds his hand out and Benji takes it as he gets to his feet.

“Fuck off, new kid,” Derek says under his breath so only Benji and I can hear.

Benji gives him a look and then looks at me for a second. Derek hasn’t let go of his hand. It looks like Benji’s thinking about something, but I’m not sure I want to know what. My mom runs over a second later and I’m oddly thankful. “Mijo, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Mom,” I say. “Don’t worry.” As if to prove my point, I get up and walk around a little bit. “See, totally okay.”

“Okay,” she says and I nod. Then I glance toward Benji and Derek again; they’re walking away but I can tell they’re arguing about something. And if I had to guess, I’d say that something was me. I sigh a little and my mom looks at me with questions in her eyes; she tilts her head slightly to one side.

“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it,” I say and then I turn around to see where my friends got to. I see them not far away, talking and half of them glancing at me while the other half glance at Benji and Derek and I groan. I’m sure Felix is sharing his thoughts with everyone which I guess is fine. Like he said yesterday; it’s not like it matters even if it is true, I’m dating Mia and as far as anyone knows I’m straight as a ruler. I walk over to them and Mia smiles at me.

“Are you okay?”

I smile at her a little. “Yeah, I’m fine. We were laughing until Derek walked over and ruined the moment.” I sigh and look at Felix.

“Yeah, he definitely looked ready to kill you.”

“Doesn’t he always?” I say. “It’s so stupid, because like you said yesterday, what does it even matter, right?”

He shrugs and Mia looks at me. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, I sort of assumed you’d told all of them at this point,” I say to Felix.

He shrugs. “Uh, do you want me to?"

I shrug. "Might as well.

He nods. "Yesterday, when we were leaving Benji’s, Derek got there before we got out of the driveway. He, uh, acknowledged me when I said hi. I was just trying to be nice. But he looked like he might have actually shot Victor if he had a gun handy.”

“What? Why?” Mia says.

“From what I can gather. I _think_ he thinks Benji likes Victor. Like, _likes_ him.”

“Which is why I said it was stupid, because it doesn’t even matter if it were true,” I say and I hope I sound sincere, but really, I’m just looking over everyone’s shoulders toward where Benji and Derek are still arguing near the pavilion.

“Yeah. I mean, you’re straight, right?” Cassie says and she doesn’t wait for an answer; it’s an assumption not a question and I don’t correct her. “So, like, who cares; even if Benji _does_ like you, it’s not like it matters. Which honestly, wouldn’t be shocked if he does, but that’s another story.” I raise an eyebrow at her, but don’t say anything. She shrugs. “Anyway, now that Derek has managed to spoil the mood…”

Emilee groans. “I thought we were done with that phrase when he graduated in June, but here we are.”

“Seriously,” Felix agrees and we all sort of sigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Side note: Emilee and I are totally pro at three-legged races and I think we did actually win the water balloon toss our senior year, too, if I remember correctly.


	34. Part 7D - Band Camp - Week 1, Day 1, Part 1

Monday morning, my alarm goes off at seven and I groan. I can hear Pilar’s ringing, too, through the wall. She turns it off a few seconds after I get turn mine off. I stretch my arms above my head as I sit up and look around my room. _Band Camp_. Seven hours of band every weekday for two weeks. That also means, seven hours of standing next to Benji and seven hours of trying to figure out what the hell Cassie meant when she said she wouldn’t be surprised if he liked me and seven hours of trying to figure out what her boyfriend meant when he said he’d probably heard wrong. Those last two may be closer to twenty-four hours though if we’re being honest. I hope they pick me up first on Wednesday night, because _damn_ do I want answers. But that reminds me; I’m _dating_ Mia now; there's an official second date scheduled. This is an actual thing that’s happening, I guess, and I still don’t know what to think about any of it.

I get dressed; basketball shorts (with pockets) and a thin t-shirt. Then I remember it’s apparently sports day so I dig out my Colombian national team jersey that my Abuelo Tito gave me for Christmas and pull it on instead, but then my shorts don’t match so I change those, too (into khaki cargo shorts) and I walk to the mirror to fix my hair. By the time I finally sit down at the table for breakfast, even Pilar’s awake.

“Are you two ready for your first day?” my mom asks as I sit down.

Pilar rolls her eyes and says nothing. I shrug a little. “I guess. It’s weird having band this early though.”

“Camp was always in the afternoon in Graham, right?”

I nod. “One to nine; which is kind of what next week is, I guess? I still don’t get why they do it this way, but,” I say and then I shrug. Band camp back in Graham was like two and half weeks if you count Rookie Camp and Leadership Days; longer for guard, but it was always one to nine. We never had these short summer rehearsals like we’ve been doing for months and we were definitely not expected to be at the school before eight in the summer and only occasionally on weekends for some events.”

My phone buzzes on the table as I drink the last of my coffee; it’s a text from Felix.

_Are you coming? We need to leave._

I look at the time and groan as I get to my feet. “We need to go,” I say looking at Pilar. She looks at me and then at her phone. She sighs as she stands up and we both take our plates to the sink. Then I tell my mom, “Okay, we’re leaving, Mami, we’ll see you after three." Pilar picks up her Guard bag from where it’s leaning next to the door and I reach for the door knob.

“Okay, mis amores, que tenga un buen día. Wait! Do you have your lunches?”

“Oops,” I say and I step back into the kitchen and pick up the two brown paper bags from the counter. I hand one to Pilar. “¡Gracias, Mami! ¡Hasta luego!”

"¡Chau!”

I open the door and gesture for Pilar to go first. We both jog down the stairs and out the front door. Felix is typing furiously into his phone when we arrive. He doesn’t look up. “Yo, let’s go!” I say and he suddenly shakes alive and looks at me.

“I was just texting you.”

“I figured. No need. We were eating breakfast. Come on, before we’re late.”

We get to the school at ten of, which is technically late by EHSMU standards, Felix reminds us and we both roll our eyes at him. I stop at the drum closet while Felix and Pilar head into the band room. “You’re late,” Chris says as I pick up my drum and harness.

“Yeah, sorry. We were eating breakfast and talking about how different band is here than in Texas and I lost track of time,” I say.

Chris shrugs. “I don’t care, just don’t let staff catch you walking in that late, or you’ll end up running laps. Go ahead down to the band room. Everyone else is already down there. I was just waiting for you so I could lock up.”

“Sorry,” I say again and then I walk away toward the sounds of messy warmups and chatter. The band room is packed. It was clearly not designed with an ensemble this size in mind. Or maybe it’s all the excess concert percussion equipment taking up space in the back. I see the rest of the line in the back corner where we usually gather and head toward them. Benji looks up when I get there and nods once with a look I can’t quite explain on his face. “I know. I know. I’m late. Felix and Chris have already yelled at me. You’re off the hook.”

“I wasn’t going to yell at you,” he says. “I was going to ask if you’re okay. This is the first time you’ve been late, so…”

“Yeah, fine. My sister and I were eating breakfast with our mom and we were talking about how different band here is from band in Texas and we lost track of time. I didn’t realize how late it was until Felix texted me asking where we were. And then we almost forgot our lunches, and just yeah. It’s been a morning.”

“Okay, okay, calm down. You’re talking a mile a minute. Remember to breathe. No passing out on the first day of camp.”

I laugh a little. “Sorry.” I pause and look around the room. “Oh, I didn’t look at the board for the schedule,” I realize.

“We’re just gonna be on the field all day except lunch. Don’t worry about it. It’s not us that need to care unless there’s weather complications. Especially not since I know you have the music memorized already.” I look at him and he smiles at me, so I smile back. “You’re sure you’re okay?” I nod once. “Okay. Oh, and you can leave your lunch in the band room. You got the memo of no fridge access and only one microwave for everyone, right?”

I nod again. “Nothing cold other than the ice in my water jug and no need to reheat.”

“Perfect. We usually set our stuff up there,” he says and he points to the top of a wooden structure of flute and clarinet sized cubbies behind us. “Almost everyone else has an assigned cubby for theirs, but as our instruments don’t exactly go in cubbies…”

“I get you,” I say and I walk over to set my bag on top with the mess of other bags and lunchboxes. “So do we eat lunch in here?”

He laughs. “Do _not_ let Fairchild hear you even insinuate food being consumed in the band room. You’ll be running laps all day. We come drop off our instruments; get our lunches and go up to the cafeteria,” he explains.

“Oh.”

“But seriously; no eating or drinking anything that’s not water in the band room.”

“Got it,” I say and he smiles at me again, so I smile back again.

Since there’s a lot of chatter and warming up happening, Mr. Fairchild calls rehearsal to order by clapping out a pattern that seems to invoke a pavlovian response of a double clap and silence from everyone in the room. I stare at at him and then glance at Benji. Benji fights off a laugh, but nods toward Mr. Fairchild, so I turn back to the front.

“Good morning, everyone!” There’re a couple grumbled responses and then he chuckles to himself. “I know, I know, after a couple months of sleeping in; this is too early for all of you, but it’s good practice for school next month when most of you get to deal with me first period anyway.” He takes a deep breath. “I trust you’ve all checked the board for our daily schedule, so I just want to make a few quick announcements and then we’ll head over to the field. It’s supposed to be in the low nineties this afternoon and lots of sunshine. Make sure you put on sunscreen frequently and wear a hat to shade your eyes! If you don’t have your own sunscreen, I believe the BPA has brought a few extra bottles and has them under the tent on the practice field.” _Tent?_ “There’s also a large cooler of ice water for you to refill your jugs as need be and there will be Gatorade and snacks during morning break as always. If you don’t have a hat and want one, a few have been donated and can be found at the BPA tent as well; first come first serve. If you use one of those hats, please return it before you leave today so someone else can use it tomorrow when you remember to bring your own! I don’t have any major plans for lunch today, but I think the SLC was trying to get some games organized if I heard correctly.” A few people including Robert and Chris nod. “Remember, starting today, any rule breaking during rehearsal will earn you laps without warning. I expect all of you on your best behavior and remember, the first four E's will go out at closing tonight, so keep that in mind!” _E's?_ This keeps getting more confusing. “Okay, go on. Outside in your twos, ready to step off at ten after.” He steps backwards into the doorway of his office as mass chaos erupts in the room; chairs scraping the ground and a sudden burst of chatter. I notice a few people go out the doors into the hallway, but most people are just pushing their way toward the door on the opposite end of the room that leads outside. I follow Benji toward that one.

When we get outside, we fall into our twos and once everyone’s together Robert claps and calls us to attention just like any other practice. When we get to the field, I see the tent Mr. Fairchild was on about. In the corner of the practice field near the tree we like to have sectionals under, is a pop-up tent with a folding table and two lawn chairs under it. On the table is a giant insulated drink dispenser; like one of the ones from the sidelines of a football game that I assume must contain the ice water. In the lawn chairs are two band moms I don’t recognize. After we come to a stop and everyone drops their water bottles and instruments on the hill, someone announces that we should go to the basics block, but it turns out they were only talking to the winds, because when I start walking that way, Benji grabs my arm and nods toward where Chris is leading the rest of the line toward an empty corner of the field.

We end up doing stretches, which apparently means yoga to Chris and it takes me a minute before I remember someone mentioning this at an early rehearsal. We do yoga for ten minutes and then we go to join the winds in the basics block for the last ten minutes of their stretches, too. We do some posture stuff and some partner stretches and then we’re told to take a water break and grab our instruments from the hill. After that break is thirty minutes of basics followed by another water break to drop our instruments back off and then we spend the last forty minutes before the long morning break learning the first four sets of drill. The pit shows up and sets up at the edge of the field during the last five minutes.

When we’re dismissed for the fifteen-minute snack break, I follow Benji toward the tent. The main choices seem to be pretzel sticks or animal crackers, and fruit (specifically grapes or watermelon). “It’s always lemon-lime Gatorade and it’s always super watered down. You’re better off with water,” Benji tells me as I got to grab a cup. I nod and accept his warning as I pile a handful of animal crackers onto my plate and then grab a few grapes.

“Why are these grapes so cold?” I say out loud, not really to anyone.

“They're frozen!” comes a voice I don’t recognize from my right and I sort of shake my head as I look at the girl who spoke. I recognize her as a member of the color guard, but have no idea of her name.

“Frozen?”

“Uh, yeah, duh. Best part of band camp. Move on, rookie; the rest of us want some, too.”

“Geez, sorry,” I say and then I step away from the tent. I look toward the hill and see Mia and Lake already sitting there; near where my water jug is waiting and sigh a little as I walk toward them.

“Don’t worry about it,” Lake is saying when I arrive. “It’ll be fine.”

“You say that,” Mia groans and then she looks up and smiles at me. “Oh! Hey, Victor.”

“What’s going on?” I ask as I sit down next to them.

“Mia has to meet her dad’s new girlfriend and she doesn’t want to.”

“Why not?” I ask. Mia rolls her eyes. “Okay, I won’t ask.”

Mia looks at me and half-smiles. I think she’s impressed that I’m not asking about it, but honestly; if she doesn’t want to talk about it, she doesn’t have to. Not asking questions when someone is upset is a skill anyone would perfect living with Pilar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frozen grapes are actually the best snack at band camp and you can fight me on it.


	35. Part 7E - Band Camp - Week 1, Day 1, Part 2

After break, we add music to the drill we learned and on the last run, we play the full opener from the fourth set. “Very nice, the music sounds great and we’ll get that drill cleaned up throughout camp,” Mr. Fairchild says through the megaphone. Take a quick water break and then head to sectionals. Please stay on this side of the road. We’ll meet in the arc at eleven-forty-five to do a music run of the opener and ballad and maybe clean the ballad a little before lunch.”

“Line, leave your drums where you are; we’ll come get them before we find somewhere for sectionals!” Chris says loudly as he pulls his own harness over his head. We all take our drums and harnesses off and set them on the field before running toward the hill to grab our water jugs. Mia smiles at me as I jog past her and I smile back for a second.

“Bring your water with you,” Chris says as he picks his up. “Let’s go back behind the tent I guess, but be mindful of the band parents’ ears, alright?”

“Do we have techs?” Benji wonders aloud as he picks up his water jug and takes a massive gulp from it.

“I think so,” Chris says. “It’s camp; we should.”

“There’s Mr. Stokes,” Mitch says and he nods to where Mr. Stokes is currently jogging across the road from the school.

“Oh, Ivan’s down with the pit,” Andrew says. “Next to Rich.”

“Is Jo here?” Savannah asks and we all sort of look around.

“Doesn’t look like,” Benji says as we all start back down the hill.

When we get back to our drums, Mr. Garrett is already standing there. “Hey, guys,” he says. “Where are you heading?” He’s looking at Chris.

“Back behind the tent, I guess. Since they set that up in our normal place.”

“I tried to tell them that,” Mr. Garrett says.

“Eh, it’s fine. Um, do we have techs, or?”

“You do. Here comes Mr. Stokes now and Jo is on her way; she was having childcare issues this morning. I have Ivan helping Rich with the pit today, though, so you don’t have him. I’m going to go back and forth between you guys and the pit and then I do want us to come together for the last ten or fifteen minutes and try to run the opener and ballad with focus on the percussion features, so work on those in sectionals, too.” Chris nods and then Mr. Stokes arrives, panting for breath.

“Sorry, I’m late,” he says. “Montgomery was just not listening to me after Pam left for work this morning, so it took a lot longer than it needed to for us to get out the door.”

Mr. Garrett nods. “No sweat, Dean. How old is he now?”

“Four.”

Mr. Garrett nods knowingly. “Alright, well you can all head back to that corner before winds try to steal it. I’ll come grab you when we’re ready to do it all together.”

“Is it just me today?” Mr. Stokes asks as Mr. Garrett walks toward the pit.

“Jo’s on her way,” Chris says as we start walking toward the tent. “Something about childcare issues or something.”

“And he stole Ivan for the pit,” Benji adds.

Mr. Stokes nods as we pass the tent. He waves to the moms and they wave back. We settle into our corner and then Chris says we should do some warm-ups because apparently someone forgot that on the schedule today. By the time we finish our warm-up routine, Jo arrives, looking a little exhausted. Mr. Stokes looks up at her. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. My mom’s sick, so I had to scrounge for someone to watch the boys. We’re all good now.”

“Who has them?”

“Miranda’s mom, actually.”

“Nice.”

Jolyn nods. “Yeah, they’ll have a good day playing with all the bunnies.”

“Bunnies?” I ask.

“Uh, yeah. Miranda and her mom raise show rabbits, mostly angoras. They’ll be at tent city if you wanna see them.”

“Tent city?”

“Oh, god, I keep forgetting you’re not from here. Uh, during the fair there’s like a mini farm show in the park; including show rabbits. Miranda usually enters hers.”

“Oh,” I say and then we actually start rehearsing.

Mr. Garrett comes over to ask us to join the pit at about eleven-thirty, so we head over and spend the last ten minutes of sectionals playing through everything once and the percussion features each a second time. “Great job, guys, get some water and then line out on the field in the arc for ensemble.”

I watch as the pit all just sort of drop to ground right where they’re standing and pick up their water jugs. Felix sits on the edge of the trailer containing the timpani with his back to them. He waves to me when our eyes meet. “Hey,” I say as I pick my water and go to sit next to him.

“How’s field stuff?” he asks.

I chuckle under my breath and shrug. “It’s band camp.”

He laughs. “True that. What are you doing after camp today?”

“Not a clue. Taking a nap, probably,” I say.

“A nap sounds amazing. I wonder if Cassie’ll drive us home.”

“Did I hear my name?” Cassie says walking up in front of us and then dropping to the ground cross-legged with her water. Ally walks over and sits next to her a second later.

“Yeah,” Felix says. “Can you drive us home at three?”

“Sure,” she says with a shrug. “No problem. I took the two weeks off work because I’m not about to do band camp and try to work 20 hours a week on top of it; just not happening. I think I’d die.”

“I have no idea how people work during band camp,” Ally agrees. “Are any of you going to DCI on Saturday? Mitch wants to, but…”

“I want to, but I need to do some math, finances-wise,” Felix says.

“I’m not going this year,” Cassie says.

“Honestly, I haven’t even thought about it,” I say. “I kind of forgot it was a thing.”

“Flutes notoriously hate DCI, so Mia’s probably not going,” Felix says. “You should stay and hang out with her.”

“Maybe,” I say and then I find myself wondering if Benji’s going and my brain sort of spirals until someone is yelling that we need to get the arc set up.

I jump to my feet and Felix tells me to just leave my water jug on his platform so I do. Then I pick up my drum and jog out onto the field. We play through the entire opener with the transition into the ballad and then play through that, too. As promised, we clean a few spots in the ballad and then Mr. Fairchild looks at his watch and says, “Lunch time! Line up in your twos and we’ll head over.”

We drop off our instruments and grab our lunches from the band room and then crowd down the hallway to the cafeteria. Mia and Lake wait for me by the door and ask me to sit with them when I arrive. I’m already walking with Felix so he invites himself to the party and I can see lake rolling her eyes as we go to find a table.

Once we’re settled in, me next to Mia, Lake on Mia’s left and Felix on my right, Mia gives more details about the dad’s girlfriend situation. Saying that she has to have dinner with her on Friday night. “I just can’t with this dinner,” she whines. “Every time my dad gets a new girlfriend; they just get younger and dumber.”

“What kind of car does he drive again?” Lake says.

“Haha,” Mia says as she rolls her eyes.

“So, if you’re meeting the girlfriend on Friday, does that mean you can’t come to movie night?”

“Oh, no,” she says with a little smile. “I can do both! Lake here, is coming with me to the dinner so she can get us out of it early.”

“Mmhmm,” Lake confirms.

“How?” Felix asks.

“Oh, um, I’m the excuse queen, so,” Lake says like that should be obvious.

“What does that mean?” I ask.

“Well, it means…” She suddenly gasps and looks down at her phone on the table. “Oh my God. Uh, you guys, my little brother just swallowed a golf ball and now he’s in the hospital.”

“What?” I ask.

“Oh my gosh, is he okay?” says Felix.

“Excuse queen,” she says and takes a little bow. We both laugh and Mia smiles at her.

“Oh my God!” Felix says. “You’re like the next Judy Dench.”

“So, how are you guys so sure your dad’s girlfriend’s gonna be this terrible?” I ask.

“Cause they’re all terrible,” Mia says, “starting with my drunk mother who checked herself into rehab on my twelfth birthday and never came back.” We all just kind of look at her and my heart breaks a little. “Sorry,” she says, “we had good banter going; did I kill it? I killed it.”

“I’m so sorry, Mia. I knew your mom wasn’t around, but I didn’t….”

She shakes her head. “It’s fine. It was a long time ago and I’m very over it.” _Three years is a long time ago now?_

“It’s weird; before your mom left, I used to think she was the coolest,” Lake says.

Mia shrugs a little. “Guess we don’t always know what’s going on with our parents.” _Well, that hits a little too close to home._

After we eat and clean up the cafeteria, the SLC tells us all to come outside. There are five or six huge tubs overflowing with water balloons waiting on the patio outside the cafeteria and my eyes go wide. “Have fun,” Robert says with a grand gesture and then suddenly people are picking up balloons and throwing them. I see my sister trying to hide around the corner of the building and walk over to her. “Hermana, try to loosen up, okay? It’s hot. Throw a balloon or two. Have _fun_.”

She rolls her eyes. She’s wearing all black which seems like a questionable decision considering the late July sun and ninety-degree temperatures. She didn’t even _try_ to participate in sports day, but that part isn’t very shocking. Pilar doesn’t _do_ sports. She doesn’t say anything so I just walk back into the mess of bodies and balloons without her.

When we’re down to the last few balloons in each bucket, I’m hit directly for the first time. I’m bending down to grab another balloon when one breaks directly over my butt and I sort of squeak and jump which causes me to fall forward over the bucket of balloons and into the brick wall. Everyone around me gasps a little, and band moms come running, including Mrs. Smith. “Victor, honey, are you okay?” she says as she helps me up.

I laugh. “Yeah, no, I’m fine,” I say and then I rub my forehead and my hand comes away bloody. “Or not.”

She shakes her head a little. “I knew this was a terrible idea. Come on, inside. Let’s get that cleaned up.” She puts an arm around my back and leads me back through the cafeteria doors. I still have no idea who even threw that balloon in the first place and I’m kind of curious because it was definitely intentional.

Once inside, I’m swarmed by all of the band moms on duty and half the staff members. “That’s it,” Mr. Garrett says. “No more water balloons.” He storms toward the door.

“Mr. Garrett, I’m fine, honestly. It’s not like whoever it was tried to hurt me!”

“Doesn’t matter,” he says and he keeps walking.

“This might sting a bit,” says a band mom I don’t recognize. She’s holding a cotton pad that appears to be wet near my face. I brace myself. She dabs the cut on my forehead and yeah, it definitely stings. I can feel my teeth clenching. “Okay, okay, almost done,” she says. “Just want to make sure it’s clean.”

Once they’re finally done poking my face and then taping gauze over the cut, I convince them to let me go find my friends. When I get back to the patio, the buckets have been removed along with all evidence (other than the splash marks) of the water balloons ever existing. Mia looks up when I walk outside and rushes over. “Oh my _God_ , are you okay? I swear I’m going push Benji in front a bus for that.”

“Wait, it was Benji?” I say and I almost laugh.

“Uh, yeah. I saw it happen.”

“Did anyone else see it?”

She shrugs. “I don’t think so? I don’t really know.”

“Fascinating. Well don’t tell Garrett. He’s pissed enough. Benji would probably end up having to run laps all afternoon and I sort of don’t want to be the only snare on the field.” Being the only snare on the field is the furthest from my concerns, if we’re being fair, but it seems like a reasonable thing to tell Mia.

“I won’t. I’m not some sort of tattle-tail three-year-old,” she says as if she’s offended that I’d even suggest such a thing.

“I didn’t mean that. You just said you were gonna push him in front of a bus, so like, don’t do that either, okay?” She rolls her eyes.

“Yeah, whatever. As long as you’re okay.”

“I am,” I say and then I look around. I spot Benji on the far end of the patio with Lucy and a few other people I don’t recognize around him. I start walking in that direction, though I don’t even know what I plan on saying to him. However, halfway there, Felix grabs my arm and pulls me into a different circle of people. “Oh, hi.” I say and my sister is staring at me from across the circle. “I’m fine, hermana. Please don’t tell mom.”

“Like she’s not going to notice a huge ass bandaid on your face.”

“I’ll take it off before we go home.”

“You probably have a gash under there,” Cassie says. “it was bleeding, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, but Mrs. Smith and the band moms took care of me. I’m good, promise,” I say, but they’re all still staring at me. “Oh my God, I got hit in the ass with a fucking water balloon and fell over. It’s not the end of the world. Please stop looking at me like that, _Jesus Christ.”_ They all shift their eyes, except my sister. “Pilar, seriously, stop.”

“Fine,” she says. “And no, I won’t tell mom you just took the Lord’s name in vein twice in one breath or that you said ‘ass’,” she adds with a chuckle.

“Thank you,” I say.

“Do you know who it was?” Felix asks.

I nod once. “Y’all don’t?” They all shake their heads. “Okay, well, I didn’t either, but according to Mia, she saw it happen and it was apparently Benji.”

“As I said,” Cassie says quietly and I stare at her. “Nothing, nothing.”

“That explains why he’s freaking out so bad,” Mitch says and nods toward the end of the patio. From this angle I can see that Benji is sitting on the brick half-wall that surrounds the cement slab outside the cafeteria. His feet are on the bench of a picnic table and Lucy is sitting next to him, with her arm around his shoulders. The other people that I don’t recognize are sitting around the table and standing off to the side. He looks really upset.

“Yikes,” I say and I’m still watching him. But then he looks up and our eyes meet and he looks panicked. He starts to stand up, but Lucy grabs his arm to pull him back. His eyes don’t leave mine, though. I try to smile at him, but he looks so panicked I can’t get my face to do the thing. Eventually, one of the people in his group steps between us and I shake a little bit as I turn back to my friends. “I kind of feel bad.”

“Pretty sure it’s him that should feel bad, dude,” Felix says, clapping my shoulder.

“But I’m fine,” I say with a sigh. “Whatever, I’ll talk to him later.”

“Still, it’s pretty funny,” Cassie says. “I mean, because you’re okay. If you weren’t okay, it wouldn’t be funny.”

I snort a little. “It kind of is. That was like a perfectly aimed water balloon.”

“At your butt!” Cassie agrees. “Like I was saying yesterday… would not be shocked if Derek’s fear is completely founded in reality.”

“What are you talking about?” Ally asks.

“Oh, Derek apparently wants to murder Victor and Felix’s theory is that it’s because he thinks Benji likes him. I said I wouldn’t be shocked if that were true, and well after _that_. Yeah, no, I’m officially on team Benji likes Victor; not that it really matters, but.” She shrugs a little, and half-smiles at me.

“Oh,” Ally says and she laughs. “But like, Victor’s dating Mia, so? It _really_ doesn’t matter, does it? Like, I mean, aside from the obvious concerns about Derek murdering him.”

“Exactly,” Felix says and then he sighs. “That’s what I keep saying, but the way Derek was looking at him both yesterday _and_ Saturday, I'm fairly concerned for my bestie's safety if they ever end up in a dark alley together.”

“Seriously,” Cassie says and then I stop paying attention, because I can’t with this conversation. I turn to look toward Benji again and like he can read my mind, he glances up a second later and our eyes meet again. This time, I do manage to smile at him and he looks a little relieved, so I mouth _I’m fine_. Then he smiles back at me for real and I’m grinning at him because I can’t help myself. Then he winks and I feel my stomach flip a little and I think I’m blushing, but he glances back to his friends a second later and I sigh.


	36. Part 7F - Band Camp - Week 1, Day 1, Part 3

“Verizon time is 12:50, we should probably go line up or whatever,” Cassie says, looking up from her phone.

“Verizon time?”

She laughs. “Uh, that’s official EHSMU time, because both Fairchild and Garrett have Verizon phones. So whatever time Verizon says it is, is what time it is.”

“Aren’t all times the same, though?”

“They should be, but in case they’re not; Verizon time is the _real_ time.” She gets up from the wall and gestures for everyone to follow her. “Let’s, go before we get yelled at.”

We all walk back into the cafeteria and most of the band does, too, so it’s kind of a massive formless blob of people moving through the cafeteria and then down the hall and into the band room. Benji is already there picking up his drum when I get there. I pick up mine, too, and he smiles at me again. “Sorry about that. I assume, you figured out it was me?”

I laugh a little. “Mia saw it happen. If she didn’t tell me, I would’ve had no idea.”

He nods once. “I was _not_ trying to knock you over, I swear.”

“I know. And I tried to tell Garrett that, but he went on a rampage and said no more water balloons apparently.” We throw our binders over our heads and pick up our water jugs as we walk toward the door. “I didn’t even know I was bleeding until I put my hand on my forehead and then Mrs. Smith had to make a scene about it.”

“You were _bleeding_?” he groans. “ _God_ , I’m so sorry, Victor, honestly.”

“Dude, it’s fine. It doesn’t even hurt. I’m just hoping the gash or whatever isn’t big enough for my mom to notice because she’s gonna freak out.”

“Surprised Mrs. Smith didn’t call her.”

“Honestly? Same.” We fall into our regular spot in line. “Also, be careful around Mia for the foreseeable future. She said something about wanting to push you in front of a bus for that. I asked her not to, but you never know.”

He laughs. “Found yourself a protective girlfriend, huh?”

“She’s, uh, she’s not my girlfriend.”

“Whatever you say.”

“She’s not,” I say and then I sigh. _Why is everyone like this?_

“Okay, well, she’s a protective girl, space, friend then.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, whatever. But I’m fine and I told her not to tell Garrett who it was because I’m pretty sure he’d have you running laps all afternoon if he found out.”

“Probably right. I didn’t even think about that. Is she the only one that knows?”

“I think she’s the only one that _saw_ , but I told the people I was talking to and she’d clearly told Lake. I need to make sure Pilar doesn’t tell our mom. I don’t need to be banned from going to your pool or whatever her reaction to that would be.” He exhales a tiny laugh through his nose and then smirks at me for a second. “What?”

He shrugs. “I appreciate that you’re trying to keep me out of trouble or whatever, but really not being allowed to come swimming is your concern here?”

I laugh. “I mean, kinda? But I moreso don’t want my mom to hate you. She’s the kind of band parent that volunteers to chaperone _everything_. You do _not_ need her glaring at you all season.”

“Ah! Then, thank you. I was starting to get concerned you were gonna stop hanging out with me after my dad closes the pool for the season.”

I roll my eyes at him. “No, I’m not just using you for your pool, promise. I actually _like_ hanging out with you.” He smiles at me, but doesn’t say anything and I wonder if I’ve said too much.

“What’s with the face?”

“Huh?”

“You’re making a concerned face right now and I don’t understand why,” he explains.

“Oh, uh, nothing. It’s nothing,” I say and I try to relax my face as best I can.

He raises an eyebrow at me. “Okay, well, for the record, I like hanging out with you, too.”

“Derek doesn’t seem to like that you like hanging out with me,” I grumble quietly.

He chuckles. “Yeah, ignore him. I usually do.”

I raise an eyebrow. “He’s your boyfriend…”

“He is,” Benji says with a sigh. “But like, he’s also kind of a jackass sometimes. Plus, he’ll be at Millersville in like 3 weeks anyway, so he’ll never have to know how much we hang out after that.” He laughs. “That probably sounds terrible, but the only one of my friends that he even remotely likes is Lucy, so I guess I’m just used to it at this point. And, he also can’t say shit about during practice because I couldn’t not hang out with you if I wanted to.” He bumps my shoulder with his and laughs a little again.

Before I can even think of how to respond to all that, Robert is clapping and calling us to attention to start the march to the field for the last two hours of practice. We learn four more sets of the opener drill and then add the music to it and run the whole thing a couple times before Mr. Fairchild tells us to bring it in for closing huddle. We drop our drums to the side near the tubas and other large instruments and join the group forming behind the pit equipment.

“Good job today, everyone!” he says once we’re all gathered around. “Tomorrow is going to look pretty much identical to today; we’re going to try to knock out sets nine to twelve in the morning and thirteen to sixteen in the afternoon. Owing to today’s incident, water balloon fights will no longer be allowed on any non-grass surfaces, so SLC, I don’t know what you’ve got up your sleeves, but no more of that. We’re lucky Victor didn’t have a concussion.” Everyone turns to look at me and I close my eyes as I feel my face turn red. Benji bumps my shoulder with his so I look at him and he mouths _sorry_. I shake my head and sigh. “Anyway, E’s need distributing!” Mr. Garrett picks up a clear plastic box from off the drum major stand and holds it in the air. "SLC if you could join me, please!" Benji brushes past me and walks to the front. Mr. Garrett takes a handful of small items out of the box he's holding and hands one to each person.

"Tonight we as a collective staff, present the Student Leaders with their E's as an acknowledgement of how much they have already done and will continue to do for the ensemble throughout the season. Tomorrow, we will start handing them out to everyone else. Staff and SLC can each hand out one E per night, but are under no obligation to do such. Remember this is _not_ a popularity contest. We will continue this after band camp if necessary until all members have their E."

"But how do we earn the E?" someone asks.

"Good question," Mr. Fairchild says. "Each person makes their own decisions on why to give someone an E. It can be anything from a thank you for helping a fellow unit member during rehearsal to an acknowledgement of marked improvement in your marching or musical skillset. SLC other than drum major are limited in distributing to their own sections, but staff may distribute to any member they feel has earned the award that day. Everyone understand?" There's a murmur of agreement and some head nods. "Okay, a few more announcements tonight. Any juniors or seniors who are in at least their third year of membership that would like to run for an officer position, I need to have your official candidacy statements by the end of rehearsal _tomorrow_. Offices of President, Vice President, Secretary, Historian, and Quartermaster are available. If you don't understand what a position entails, please check your handbook or get with Mr. Garrett, myself, or Miranda and we'll be happy to go over the requirements with you. Elections will be next Thursday during dinner so you'll have time to prepare your speeches." He pauses for a moment and looks around at the other staff members. "Anybody have any other announcements?"

"Tomorrow's theme," a tech I don't recognize says.

"Oh, you're right. Thank you, Tim. Tomorrow is class colors day. Freshmen, yellow; sophomores, blue; juniors, red; and seniors, purple. Freshmen and Seniors make sure you don’t use all of your Ephrata gear tomorrow as we still have Purple and Gold day on Friday!” He checks with the staff one last time and then dismisses us to grab our things and line up to march back over to the school.

After we march back across the street and put our drums away, I walk back outside. Benji smiles at me and waves before he walks off with Lucy. Mia and Lake are already getting into Lake's mom's car.

“Why can’t we be yellow?” Cassie is whining to someone I don’t recognize.

“Isn’t purple your favorite color?” the other girl says.

“It is, but if we were yellow, I could just wear my elementary band shirt and be done.”

“You could wear your quiz bowl shirt tomorrow and the band shirt Friday.”

“Nope, Emilee and I are doing quiz bowl shirts for twin day on Thursday.”

“But if you wore that tomorrow, what would you wear Friday?”

“I have a gold rush shirt from last year.”

“Don’t you have your middle school band shirt?”

“You’re brilliant!” Cassie says and then she hugs the other girl. “Honestly, Juli, _brilliant_.”

The girl laughs a little. “I mean, that’s probably what I’m wearing, too. Probably half of the seniors will if you think about it.”

“Okay, true. No idea why I didn’t think about that. Seniors wearing middle school band shirts; freshies wearing elementary school band shirts and then the sophomores and juniors are just gonna have to make something up.” Cassie laughs a little and then she looks up and spots me. She smiles and waves me over, so I go to join them. “I’m still take yinz home, right?”

“I think that’s the plan. Just waiting on my sister, wherever the hell she got to and Felix… wait if you’re already over here, where is he?”

“I ran away,” Cassie says and shrugs, but I look toward the trunk and it's already closed. “Kidding. But I think he was talking to Ally about something? Not sure.” I look around the parking lot and see Felix walking toward us as Ally and Mitch walk toward Mitch’s car. I look back to Cassie.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve met,” the girl Cassie was talking to says after she realizes Cassie isn’t going to remember to introduce us.

“Oh, yeah, I don’t think so. I’m Victor.”

“Juli,” she says. “You play snare, right?” I nod. “And you’re new?”

I nod again. “Just moved here from Texas in June.”

“And you’ve already gotten yourself a band camp injury. What happened anyway?”

“Uh, someone threw a water balloon at my butt while I was going to pick up another one and I fell into the wall. I’m completely fine, I swear.” Juli laughs.

“It was Benji,” Cassie adds.

I stare at her. “Jesus, everyone’s just going to know, I guess. I mean, just don’t tell staff, okay? I don’t want him to like get in trouble.”

Cassie rolls her eyes. “Take that bandaid off.”

“Oh shit, right.” I look down and pull at the tape until it comes loose. “How bad is it?” I say looking back up at them.

“Well, you’re not hiding it from your mom, unfortunately,” Cassie says.

“Damn it.”

“What?” Pilar’s voice says from next to me and I turn to look at her. I point at my forehead.

“How bad is mom going to flip?”

She grimaces. “That’s pretty gnarly, hermano.”

“Damn it.”

Felix walks up a second later. “Sorry, sorry,” he says. “I was asking Ally to bring me extra crazy socks tomorrow to wear Wednesday. I don’t own any, but she lent me a pair last year, so…”

“She has quite the collection,” Cassie says. “Emilee does, too, actually.”

Then Felix is making a face at me. “What?”

“Your forehead, dude.”

“ _God_ , my mom’s going to interrogate me for an hour and be pissed no one called her. It’s so dumb. It doesn’t even hurt.”

“Just tell her it was Benji. Then she’ll hate him instead of you,” Pilar suggests.

“Absolutely not. She does _not_ need to hate Benji. I would like to still be allowed to go swimming over there, thank you very much. And If I tell her, she’s going to say something to the other moms and then staff’s going to find out and he’s going to get in trouble, so no thank you.”

“You can go swimming at Mia’s, and why do you care so much if he gets in trouble, anyway? He threw a water balloon that knocked you into a wall; I feel like he should probably get in trouble.”

I groan. “Can you just _not_ with this right now? I don’t have the energy. I thought you weren’t talking to Mom anyway.”

“I’m not.”

“Okay, well I’m not telling her and you’re not talking to her, so I guess she’s not finding out,” I say, crossing my arms.

“Why aren’t you talking to your mom?” Cassie asks.

“Long story,” Pilar says.

“We’ll have a better answer on Friday,” I say. Pilar makes a face.

“Huh?”

“It’s complicated,” I say. “Just forget it. Can we go? I wanna get this over with.”

“Sure,” Cassie says, but she gives both Pilar and I a weird look before she turns around and starts walking toward the car. “Oh, see ya, Juli!”

“Bye!”

“What does Juli play?” I ask as I climb into Cassie’s back seat with Pilar.

“Mello.”

“Why haven’t I met her before?”

Cassie shrugs. “She’s not part of the general crew. She’s just a random friend of mine from church camp actually.”

“Wait, you go to _church_ camp?”

“I used to. I thought we told you about this?”

“You told me you went to a camp. I didn’t know church was involved.”

“Oh, huh, guess we didn’t mention that. Yeah. It was a Methodist camp. Juli actually goes to church though, and I don’t anymore. I used to go with my grandparents sometimes, but I haven’t in a couple years since the whole not straight thing happened and I don’t know, some Methodists are accepting and some aren’t, but it doesn’t really matter because I don’t believe in the hoo-hah anyway. I only went for the community and honestly the church I went to was like a dozen old people and me anyway.” She laughs. “God, Perry County is the _worst_. Anyway, yeah. It was a church camp, but it’s funny because I am definitely not the only not straight person to come out of it. And I don’t think I’m the only atheist either, actually.”

“That seems questionable.”

She shrugs. “One of our counselors is a married lesbian middle school orchestra director with about a thousand pets. She’s kind of my favorite. And one of the guys that’s like five or six years older than me is gay.”

“Wait, you had a _church_ camp counselor that is a _married lesbian_?” Pilar confirms.

“Yup. Aunt Beth. She’s the middle school orchestra director for Shippensburg School District. Her brother Matt was one of the deans and is a choir director in the Lower Dauphin School District. Their other brother Todd showed up sometimes, too, but he’s a state cop, so he was never there the whole week. Also, I’m pretty sure Mike doesn’t actually go to church or isn’t super religious at least. He’s a divorce attorney and I don’t think he was ever married to his kids’ mom.”

She’s parking in front of our apartment buildings already and I’m just so overwhelmed. “Okay, that’s wild. _That_ would _not_ fly back in Texas,” Pilar says as Cassie cuts the engine and opens her door. Felix gets out and pulls his seat forward so I can climb out and Pilar climbs out of Cassie’s side.

“Well, I guess we’ll see you guys in the morning,” I say and then like clockwork, I yawn. “I really want a nap, but…” I point to my forehead.

“Good luck with your mom on that. I’m sure she’s gonna have a cow. I know my mom would and I’m like the clumsiest person ever,” Cassie says as she gets back into the car.

“ _Have a cow_?” I repeat.

She just stares at me and nods. “That’s what I said.”

“What does that even mean?”

“A conniption? Do you do that one in Texas?”

“I feel like I’ve heard that word…”

“Oh my God, uh, she’s gonna freak out.”

“Okay that I understand, but like _have a cow_.”

“Shush. My family has lived in Lancaster County since before Lancaster County existed. Stop making fun of my Pennsylvania Dutch dialect.”

“You’re taking German, aren’t you?” I nod; I don’t see how that’s relevant. “Well, maybe you’ll start to understand. Maybe Herr Kotz can show you the way.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Uh, Pennsylvania Dutch is a dialect derived from Old German. The Old Order Mennonites and Amish actually speak it; I understand about half of it after three years of German and it’s just… It’s how we talk around here, so get used to it.” She sticks her tongue out at me and then closes her car door and waves before driving away.

I look at my sister. “It’s not just me, right? These people _actually_ talk oddly.”

“Definitely,” she says. “And mom’s definitely going to freak out. She’s probably going to call all the moms that were there.”

“ _God_ , I don’t even wanna think about it. Luckily the only mom I even knew was Mrs. Smith and is she really a mom or is she staff?”

“She’s both!”

“I guess. I seriously don’t even know which ones are her kids.”

“Me either,” Pilar says and she shrugs.

“Okay, well, I guess, here goes,” I say as I open the apartment door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A person I work with that's not from here mentioned the "have a cow" thing today, so that's literally the only reason I included it in this chapter. I'm told regularly by anyone not from here that I "sound like Lancaster County" and honestly, what does that even mean?


	37. Part 7G - Band Camp - Week 1, Day 1, Part 4

“Hola, Mami,” I say as Pilar just keeps walking toward her room.

“Hola, mis amores,” my mom says and then she looks around the corner after Pilar, before turning back to me and whispering, “What did I do?” I shrug and say nothing. “How was band camp?” she asks and then my face must register, because she adds, “¿Qué le pasó?” in a concerned voice before stepping closer and reaching toward my forehead.

I dodge her hand. “I fell. It honestly doesn’t even hurt. Mrs. Smith and some other moms cleaned it up and put a bandage over it for the afternoon. I’m fine, honestly.”

“Oh, Victor, cariño, what happened? Did you trip?” She still looks like she’s trying to assess how injured I am and I want to groan.

“Kind of,” I say with a shrug, but she doesn’t buy it. She just stares at me and waits. “There was a water balloon fight at lunch…”

“Did someone push you?”

“No,” I say and I almost laugh. “I was bending over to pick up another balloon and one hit me at just the right angle to knock me forward over the bucket and into the wall. I’m telling you; it’s not a big deal.”

“Do you know who threw it? They must have thrown it pretty hard…”

“I don’t and I don’t think so. I think it just startled me and I lost my balance. Besides, like I’ve said; I’m fine.” I yawn. I’m shocked I was able to lie so easily about not knowing who threw the balloon; she clearly believes me.

“¿Estas cansado? You’re sure your head doesn’t hurt?”

“Mom, I’m fine. And yes, I’m tired. Obviously, I was just standing out in the sun, lugging a drum around for seven hours.”

She sighs. “Well, if you wanna nap, okay, but I’m gonna come wake you up in an hour, because you could have a concussion.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, okay. I’m gonna go shower first, but I’ll tell you when I’m going to lay down, okay?”

“I worry about you, mijo.”

“I know; I know, but honestly, I feel fine.”

“Be careful washing that. I wouldn’t use soap near it and try to keep your shampoo out of it; that would probably burn. I want you to come back out here and show me again after you shower so I can make sure we don’t need to go get some stitches or anything…”

I sigh. “Seriously, I’m fine. Please stop.”

“Just humor me a little, okay?”

“Fine.” I walk toward my room, but Pilar walks out of hers as I approach. “What?”

“You’re really not going to tell her?” she asks quietly and I look over my shoulder to make sure my mom didn’t hear.

“No and you aren’t either,” I say pointedly.

“Why are you protecting him so much?” I roll my eyes and grab her arm to drag her into my room and close the door before we continue this conversation.

“You know how she is. She’d never get over it and just give him death glares at every event all season. He doesn’t need that; no one does. Besides, since I’m next to him ninety-nine percent of the time, I’d have to deal with it, too.”

“He deserves it. He could’ve really hurt you.”

“Please stop, okay? He was trying to be funny. It would’ve been hilarious had I not lost my balance and you know it, so just stop. It’s not even really his fault.”

“What the _fuck_? Do you owe Benji some kind of life-debt I don’t know about or something?” I stare at her. “You’re seriously trying to say it’s not his fault? Like, you think this was whose fault then, Victor? Huh, riddle me that.”

“Mine. I lost my balance.”

“Because he hit you in the fucking ass with a fucking water balloon. Anyone would’ve.”

“If I wasn’t so startled by it, I wouldn’t’ve.”

“Yeah, well, you don’t tend to know when people throw things at the back of you, do you?”

“No, but like…”

“Victor, stop. I’m only asking this one more time. _Why the hell are you defending him so much?_ Like, I’d get it if you were just saying it was no big deal because you don't think you're hurt or whatever. The way you’re talking, it sounds like you’d be defending his ass from your deathbed if that were the case and honestly, I don’t get it.”

I sigh exasperatedly. “Get out of my room. And let it go already.”

“You dragged me in here!”

“Yeah, so mom wouldn’t hear your loud mouth, _Jesus Christ_ , Pilar. Let. It. Go.”

“Are you Elsa now?”

“Fuck off, okay?”

“I _really_ don’t get it.”

“Oh. My. God. You don’t have to get it. I’m not mad at him. I’m the one that was hit and apparently hurt. I get to make that decision. And I don’t want him getting in trouble with staff and I don’t want mom finding out because then she'll hate him for no reason. And she’ll tell all the other band moms _including Mrs. Smith_ who will tell Mr. Garrett and Mr. Fairchild and then it’ll be a whole god-damned thing. So, just _stop_.”

“Why are you so concerned about him getting in trouble, though?”

“I _literally_ just told you. Because I’m not mad and as I’m the one that was supposedly hurt here, _I_ get to make that decision. I may not be mad at Benji, but I’m starting to get pretty fucking pissed off at you. So, please, for the love of God, just stop.”

“Yeah, alright. Whatever,” she says and then she opens the door, leaves, and slams it behind herself. I hear my mom shouting at her about slamming the door and she groans before slamming her own, too. Then I hear my mom’s footsteps coming toward the hall and run to throw my door open.

“Leave her,” I tell my mom when she looks at me. “Please.” She tilts her head at me. “Mami, it’s nothing honestly, but just leave her alone." She stares. "I got mad at her about something stupid or well she got mad at me first, I guess, but it’s not. Just don’t. She’ll be fine.”

She looks me over and then nods once. “If she’s not ‘fine’ by dinner, there’s going to be a conversation.”

“Okay,” I say. “Can I get a shower now that everyone’s done overanalyzing me?”

She doesn’t say anything, but walks back toward the kitchen, so I turn around and grab a clean pair of boxers, a pair of pajama pants, and an old t-shirt from my drawer before crossing the hall to the bathroom. When I get out of the shower, I actually look at my forehead in the mirror; I’d been avoiding it. I guess, I see what everyone’s talking about, but it seriously doesn’t hurt at all and it's really not _that_ bad. I only have a very slight headache and that's honestly probably from stress or heat. I smirk to myself for a second and then pick up my phone to take a picture in the mirror before I get dressed.

I throw my dirty clothes into my hamper and then walk toward the kitchen to find my mom and let her overanalyze my forehead again. “Alright, let’s get this over with. I know it looks terrible, but it doesn’t hurt. I barely have a headache. I’m pretty sure the headache is from stress anyway. And _it doesn’t hurt_.” I emphasize as she turns to look at me.

She steps forward and lifts a finger to my forehead as she leans closer. “Come into the light more,” she says and then steps back and drags me with her. I roll my eyes as she leans in again. “Bend down so I can see properly." I bend my knees so I'm on her level. I'm already six inches taller than her. "Look up.” I groan and tilt my chin up.

“I’m fine. I swear.”

“It doesn’t look too deep,” she says as she finally removes her hand from my face. “Can I at least put some Neosporin on it and cover it before you lie down? I don’t want you to get anything in it before it can heal.”

“Yeah, alright. As long as you don’t use whatever the band moms used that stung like crazy.”

“Peroxide,” she says and then gestures for me to walk back out of the kitchen.

“Sure. No more of that.”

“That was to clean it. It looks clean now, but if it starts hurting or showing any signs of infection… or if it doesn’t heal up in a couple days, I’m making a doctor’s appointment.”

“Please don’t.”

“Well, if you keep it covered with gauze and put Neosporin on it, maybe I won’t have to, but if I for one second think it’s getting infected, you’re going to the doctor.”

“Fine.”

“Come into my bathroom. I have everything in there,” she says. I roll my eyes as I follow her through her bedroom into the attached bathroom. “Sit.” She closes the toilet lid and gestures. “You’re too tall.”

“I’m not that tall. You’re just short.”

“Shush,” she says and then she’s pulling a tube of Neosporin, a box of gauze pads, and a roll of tape out of the medicine cabinet. I sit silently while she works and then she steps back and nods. “Okay, you can go take a nap now, but I’m waking you up in an hour just to make sure.”

“Dad’ll be home in like an hour and a half. Can’t you just wait until then and wake me for dinner?” I ask as I get back to my feet.

She looks at me for a second and purses her lips. “Fine. But if you don’t wake up; know I’m blaming you and you have to pay your own hospital bills.”

I snort and roll my eyes. “I don’t have a concussion, Mom.” I pull my phone out of my pocket as I walk back to my room and attach the picture from earlier to a text message.

_Think I’ll get a cool scar out of this?_

_OMFG. I am so fucking sorry. FUCK!_

_[laugh-cry emoji] It doesn’t hurt at all and my mom just insisted on rebandaging it anyway. I’m fine. I swear. I wasn’t trying to get another apology. I don’t even blame you._

_What do you mean you don’t blame me? I threw a very well-aimed and well-timed water balloon at your ass while you were bent over and you very predictably fell into a wall. How on earth is that not my fault?_

_Seriously chill. If I hadn’t been so surprised by it, I probably wouldn’t have even fallen. It’s my fault for losing my balance iwbh. I have enough people freaking out about it, I don’t need to add you to the list. I thought I was being funny._

_Yeah. I’m not laughing._

_Noted._

I wait a minute, but he doesn’t say anything else. I don’t know if I’m more grateful that he’s not apologizing anymore or more annoyed that he’s being a party pooper about what I thought was a very valid and very funny question. Whatever, it doesn’t matter. I yawn again as I plug my phone in and set it on the nightstand. I roll over and close my eyes. I’m almost asleep when I hear my phone vibrate and I consider not checking it for a few seconds before I roll back over and pick it up.

_For the record, I hope you get a cool scar out of it. [smiling emoji]_

_Thanks. At that point and that point only, I may allow you to take the credit._

_[eyeroll emoji] It’s my fault either way._

_NO! IT’S NOT. I’m not arguing with you about this because I wanna take a nap before dinner, but please stop blaming yourself. It’s not a big deal and it’s not your fault._

_That giant gash on your forehead says otherwise._

_I never should have shown you._

I wait another minute, and he doesn’t answer again, so I put the phone back down and check the connection to the charger before rolling back over and closing my eyes. This time I’m even closer to sleep when my phone buzzes again and I barely notice, so I don’t roll back over. The next thing I know, my mom’s knocking on my bedroom door and saying my name. She doesn’t even give me time to respond before I hear the door creak open and her footsteps cross the room.

“You woke me up. Oh look, I’m awake and not in a coma. _I don’t have a concussion_. I’ll be out for dinner in a minute. _Geez_.”

“Okay,” she says quietly, but I can hear the concern in her voice. I listen as her footsteps cross the room again and then the door closes as she leaves.

I roll onto my back and stretch my arms above my head for a second before picking up my phone and unplugging the charger. I almost completely forgot about the buzzing right before I fell asleep until I see the text notification.

_Honestly? I’m glad you showed me. Thank you._

I don’t know what he wants me to say to that, so I don’t say anything at all. I just press the home key and lock my screen before I stand up and go to look in the mirror above my dresser. The bandaging my mom put on earlier is still fully intact, which I guess is good, since she’d probably insist on redoing it again if it weren’t. I stretch again and roll my neck before I open the door and walk into the hallway. Pilar is standing in her doorway waiting for me. “Guess we’re not telling Dad either?”

“He’ll just tell Mom. _No one needs to know._ ”

“So why did you tell all of us?”

“At the time, I didn’t realize Mia was actually the only one that saw, honestly, and because I thought it was _funny_.”

“Funny? Why would that be funny?”

I roll my eyes. “Never mind, okay?”

“Sure,” she says as we walk into the little dining nook next to the kitchen.

“Hola, Papi. How was your day?”

“Hola, mijo,” he says and then he turns to look at me and freezes. “What happened to you?”

I sigh. “Shocked Mom hasn’t told you yet. I lost my balance during a water balloon fight and fell into a wall.”

“You did not _lose your balance_ ,” my mom says as she sits down. “You said someone hit you with a balloon while you bent over and _knocked_ you into the wall.”

“I only fell because I was startled by getting hit. Whoever threw it didn’t try to knock me over or whatever.” Pilar gives me a look and I give her one back. “Anyway, I feel fine. And _I don’t have a concussion_ , so please refrain from waking me up every hour all night. I would like to be able to function at band camp tomorrow.”

“Oh, Mando, you should see the gash he has. Maybe after dinner.”

“I’m not letting you rebandage this again today,” I say. “I took a picture after my shower. I can show Dad that.”

“Why would you take a picture of that nasty-ass gash on your head?” Pilar asks.

“ _Language!_ ” my mom practically yells. Pilar rolls her eyes at our mom and then looks at me expectantly.

“Uh,” I start to say, well I can’t explain the real reason in front of my parents. “Uh, so I can do a daily progress time lapse thing on Instagram once I have a super awesome scar to show for it?”

“Boys are weird,” she says and then she looks down at her plate of food.

“Let’s say grace, shall we?” my mom says. “Mijo, would you?”

“Sure, Mom,” I say and then I clasp my hands as my parents both do the sign of the cross. I’ve never been in that habit and they don’t say anything about it, so I guess they don’t really care. Dinner is awkwardly quiet and when it’s done my mom gets to her feet and immediately starts cleaning up without waiting for help.

“Let me see that picture then, Flaco,” my dad reminds me.

“Right,” I say and I pull out my phone. I notice a text notification from Benji, but I just swipe to clear it instead of opening it. I’ll read it later. I open my camera roll and click on the picture. I turn my phone around and slide it across the table to my dad. He picks it up.

“¡Oh Dios mío!”

“I told you,” my mom says from the kitchen.

“Mijo, are you _sure_ you’re okay?”

“Fine,” I say, reaching for my phone, but he holds it closer to his face and I watch as he tries to work the zoom. “Please stop. I’ll zoom it in for you. Just give me the phone back.” I have no idea what he might find by accidentally scrolling my camera roll and I really don’t want to find out this way. I get up and walk around the table to snatch the phone out of his hands.

“Oy!”

“Dad, seriously,” I say and then I look at the picture. It’s really not that terrible, I swear. I pinch to zoom in and re-center it on the injury before holding the phone in front of him.

“Do you know who threw the balloon that hit you?”

“Not a clue. It was sort of a free for all of mass chaos. I doubt anyone knows.” I give Pilar a look quickly and she rolls her eyes, but says nothing.

“Okay, well, you’re sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine,” I groan again and then I pull my phone back and shove it in my pocket. “Can I go back to my room now? I wanna practice something we were working on in sectionals today.” That’s a complete and utter lie, but I’m hoping it works. It does.

“Yeah, okay,” my dad says and I start walking away.

Pilar gets up and storms to her room without a word. My mom walks out of the kitchen a second later and says, “If it starts hurting at all…”

“You’ll be the first to know,” I say and then I quickly walk the rest of the way to my room. Pilar is waiting for me in the hallway. “What d'you want now?”

“Why’d you actually take the picture?”

I laugh a little through my nose. “Be quiet.”

“So?” she whispers as she walks into my room and gestures for me to join her.

I walk in and close the door before I sigh. “I sent it to Benji.”

“Why? To show him what he did? I mean he deserves that. He should know exactly how horrible that thing looks so he knows exactly how horrible he should feel.”

“Jesus Christ, no. To ask him if he thinks I’m gonna get a cool scar out it. I thought I was being funny.”

“Yeah, that’s not funny, hermano.”

“Or so I’ve been told. Also don’t you dare tell him anything you just said to me. He should _not_ feel bad _at all_. It’s not his fault for the hundredth time.”

“Except it is.”

“Yeah, I forgot you were on his side of this argument. Get out of my room.”

“What?”

“That you think it’s his fault and he should keep apologizing and feel terrible or whatever? It’s ridiculous. I don’t understand you people.”

“How is that _his_ side of the argument. Pretty sure I told you that _before_ you even _took_ that picture, Victor.”

“Okay, so he’s on your side. What the fuck ever. Get out of my room.”

She rolls her eyes but opens the door and walks into the hallway. She closes the door like a normal human being this time at least and a second later I hear her door click shut, too. I guess I’ll take that. I walk over and sit down on the edge of my bed. I open the text that I’d dismissed from Benji earlier.

_Okay, you said you were taking a nap, but like what if you have a concussion? Tell me you woke up! Please? I’m actually worried now._

_Jesus Christ. I told you I’m fine. You’re worse than my mom._

_Sorry. I just feel bad._

_Yeah. Okay. Can we just forget this ever happened or something? It doesn’t hurt. I feel totally fine in all respects. And I’m probably gonna look like Harry Potter in a week._

_[laugh-cry emoji] Okay it was actually funny that time._

_Thank you for pretending to laugh._

_I promise I actually snorted. Ask Lucy, she’s looking at me like I’m insane from the other end of the couch._

_Does that mean we can pretend it never happened?_

_No, but I’m gonna try to stop bugging you about it._

_Stop worrying! I’m fine._

_I just said I was gonna stop bugging you about it!_

_Yeah, but that insinuates you aren’t going to stop worrying about it. It wasn’t your fault and even if it was, I’m totally fine other than a potentially awesome scar, so there’s nothing for you to worry about._

_I’ll try. What are you wearing tomorrow?_

_Why?_

_I’m trying to figure out something red and I’m at a loss. I was hoping for ideas._

_Well, I can’t help you because I have to wear blue and my old band was literally the ‘Rompin’ Stompin’ Big BLUE Band’ so I’ve got plenty of options._

_Lucky. I guess I’ll figure something out. Maybe I’ll get my mom to take me to Goodwill._

_Good luck with that. [thumbs up emoji]_

_Thanks._

I put my phone down and lay backwards across my bed until it vibrates again. I pick it up but this time the text isn’t from Benji. It’s from Mia.

_How are you doing? Does it hurt? Did you uncover it? Did your mom flip shit?_

_So many questions. I’m perfectly fine. It doesn’t hurt at all. I did uncover it, but my mom insisted on recovering it after I showered because yes, she flipped shit._

_Is it bad?_

_I took a picture. Do you want me to just send it to you? Cause I don’t think it’s terrible, but everyone else does. All I’m seeing is potential for a really awesome scar._

_I'm not good with blood, so, no thanks. I'll take your word for it._

_Okay. It's really not that bad, but my mom was like inspecting it and wondering if I needed stiches._

_OMFG STICHES!?! VICTOR! I’m going to actually murder Benji. Are you sure you’re okay? It really doesn’t hurt?_

_Do not murder anybody. It doesn’t hurt and I am perfectly fine without stitches. Also don’t TELL anybody it was Benji. I was already stupid enough to tell people cause I didn’t realize you were actually the only one that saw it happen._

_Why do care so much if people know it was him?_

_I don’t want him to get in trouble._

_As long as we don’t tell STAFF…_

_Or any band parents because you KNOW they’ll talk about it to each other, so that means Mrs. Smith will find out and she’ll tell the entire staff. No one needs to know._

_Jesus. Fine. I don’t understand why you’re so hardcore about protecting him, but fine._

_I’m not mad at him. No one else needs to be either. Like GOD. This is so ridiculous._

_Okay, okay. I won’t say anything and I won’t do anything to Benji._

_Thank you._

_Anyway, what are you wearing tomorrow for class colors? I have next to no blue in my closet. Why couldn’t we get purple or gold or black even._

_Well, my old school colors were blue and red, so I have plenty of both._

That reminds me. I could offer one of my red Graham shirts to Benji, I guess. But no. That would probably be weird and with my luck Derek would see it and hate me even more.

_Wait, can I borrow a blue shirt?_

_I mean, I guess? I can bring an extra one tomorrow morning._

_Show me options, please?_

I groan, but get up and walk to my dresser. I open my t-shirt drawer and pull out my RSB3 shirt collection and a couple other blue shirts. I lay them out on my bed and then take a picture and send it to Mia.

_Have your pick._

_What’s RSB3?_

_That’s our marching band in Graham. Rompin’ Stompin’ Big Blue Band._

_Weird._

_Shut up and pick a shirt or you don’t get one._

_Angry much?_

_Sorry. Sorry. It’s been a night. I shouldn’t take it out on you._

_Wanna talk about it?_

_Not really._

_Okay. Um, I’ll just take one of your band shirts. Whichever is fine._

_You got it. Just meet me in the lobby, I guess?_

_Not gonna be late this time, right?_

_Felix might actually murder me. I think I’m gonna set my alarm earlier tonight._

_I mean, I wouldn’t wanna have to run laps just because my friend refused to get out of bed. [shrugging emoji]_

_[middle finger emoji] I didn’t refuse to get out of bed for the record. I was talking to my parents over breakfast like a good son._

_Okay okay. It was a joke. Jesus Christ, you’re a mess tonight. Get some sleep or something, okay? And no more falling._

_I’ll see what I can do._

I lock my phone screen and set it back on the nightstand. I pick up all the shirts and put them back in the drawer other than the one I plan to wear and the one that’s now designated for Mia. _Shit_. Everyone’s really going to think we’re dating now. God, I’m dumb. Whatever. I mean I guess we are technically ‘dating’, right? We’ve been on a date and we’re going on a second one Wednesday. Which neither of us even asked for or planned, but Cassie is a force to be reckoned with, apparently. I sigh as I drop back onto my bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did Victor just (without thinking about it at all) send Benji a NAKED mirror selfie? Did that just happen?
> 
> Side Note: I legitimately looked up Graham High School, because I had to investigate this fully and find quirks for Victor to talk about.


	38. Part 7H - Band Camp - Week 1, Day 2

When we get to the school on Tuesday morning, Mia’s waiting in the lobby as promised. Pilar and Felix keep walking toward the band room while I walk over to her. “Good morning,” she says with a hesitant smile.

“Hey, I’m sorry about last night. I was pissed off about… mostly my sister, honestly, and I just… I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. You didn’t deserve that.”

She smiles at me for real. “Hey, it’s okay. We all have bad days.” She leans up on her tip toes and kisses me lightly. “How is your head though?”

“Completely fine. It still doesn’t hurt at all. To be fair, I’m pretty sure the bruise on my butt hurts more than my head does.” She laughs a little. “It hurt to sit on the dining chair this morning. It’s not funny.”

She laughs more. “It kind of is, though.”

I roll my eyes. “Not really, but whatever.” I hold out the plastic grocery bag I’m carrying. “Your shirt.”

She takes the bag and smiles at me for a second. “Thanks.”

“No problem. I’m gonna go get my drum now.”

“Okay,” she says and then she leans up and kisses me again.

And I _do_ like kissing Mia. I really do. Her lips always taste like blue raspberry which is my all-time favorite flavor. I think it might be the lip gloss and I get those little butterflies in my stomach and her lips are just mad soft, so there’s definitely worse things in the world than kissing her; that much is for sure. Mia grabs my hand as we start walking around the auditorium and laces our fingers together. I guess she _wants_ everyone to think we’re dating? And I guess we are so I guess it doesn’t matter.

When we get to the bathrooms next to the auditorium, she stops, kisses me _again_ and then walks into the girls’ room as I walk around the corner to the drum closet. Chris and Benji are both there. “Morning,” I say and Benji gives me a look I don’t quite understand.

“How are you feeling?” Chris asks. “My mom said that injury looked pretty nasty yesterday.” Benji gets a panicked expression when he says this and I sigh.

“I didn’t even know your mom was there.”

Chris stares at me. “She literally helped bandage your head, dude.”

“Oh. The only person I knew there was Mrs. Smith. I’m still trying to learn whose mom is whose, I guess.”

“Well, either which way. How do you feel?”

“I’m completely fine. It’s never hurt at all. I swear.” I look at Benji while I’m talking. I care a lot more about him hearing that than Chris, to be completely honest.

“Good. Any other injuries from that? Do you know who it was?”

“Uh, the bruise on my butt is actually the worst of it. It kind of hurt to sit on the hard dining chair at breakfast this morning.” Benji looks like he’d groan if that wouldn’t give him away and I look at him for a second before adding, “But it’s really not that bad even. I’m sure I’ll be completely fine in no time other than hopefully a really awesome scar to show for it. Totally gonna be Harry Potter for Halloween.” Both Benji and Chris chuckle at that as I pull on my harness and snap my drum into place.

Mia walks around the corner a second later, in my t-shirt. She has the end tied at her hip; it must have been too big. “Didn’t think about how tiny you are,” I say when I notice.

She laughs and smiles at me for a second. “It’s okay. People’ll just think it’s some kind of fashion statement. Thanks for letting me borrow the shirt.”

“Yeah, no problem,” I say and I smile at her.

She glances around the hallway for a second before walking over and kissing me again. She winks as she walks away toward the band room. “So you’re like clothes-sharing, kissing in the hallway, dating Mia Brooks now?” Chris asks.

“Uh, I guess so?” I say. “I don’t know. We literally went on a single date last Friday.”

He glances at me and then in the direction Mia walked. “Sure,” he says. “Anyway, head down to the band room. Both of you,” he looks at Benji, who I realize is staring at me, “I’ll be down as soon as the last three get here.”

Benji nods once and turns for the band room, I walk quickly to catch up with him. “What’s your problem?”

He shrugs. “I have multiple. Mostly that you refuse to blame me for that,” he says, nodding toward my forehead. “Even though it’s clearly my fault.”

“I’ll let you take the blame for the butt bruise? That would have happened whether I lost my balance or not.” I laugh a little and he rolls his eyes.

“I guess that’s something.”

“But I’m not sending you a picture of that one,” I say and then I stick my tongue out at him as he immediately starts cackling. Everyone sort of looks at us because by that point we’re walking into the band room. I can feel my cheeks burning as I glance at Benji. His entire face actually looks like it might be on fire. Sometimes I’m glad for my brown skin. “Your face is so red,” I say under my breath and I nudge his shoulder a little as we shuffle to the back of the room where Mitch, Savannah, and Sue are already standing. Mitch is talking to Ally and Felix. Savannah and Sue are talking to each other. Savannah looks up when we reach them.

“What did you say to him, because his face is redder than I’ve ever seen it?” she asks.

I laugh. “It’s a secret.”

She rolls her eyes. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to use my imagination then,” she says and then she turns back to her conversation with Sue.

Benji mouths _thank you_ and I laugh a little. I definitely didn’t only say that for his benefit, but I can’t tell him the truth, so I guess I’ll leave it at that.

It took me until I was nearly asleep to realize I’d send Benji a bathroom mirror selfie the night before. And that I was _completely naked_ when I took said picture. I immediately went back to my camera roll and checked a thousand times that nothing important was showing. The mirror cut off right at my hipbones luckily, so nothing he hadn’t seen before when I’ve been swimming at his house. Though I hope he’s smart enough to make sure Derek never sees that picture, because I feel like that would just bring on a whole new level of hating me.

Tuesday’s rehearsal is basically identical to Monday’s, except we stop at ten minutes before three instead of five. I wonder why for a minute but I don’t ask. Mr. Fairchild makes his usual announcements and then transitions to handing out E’s.

“I would like to give my E to Mike from the low brass section tonight,” he says. I watch as Cassie’s cousin walks forward. “You were very helpful during drill both today and yesterday. I really appreciate that you’re willing to work with the rookies on the field to make sure everything goes smoothly.” He hands Mike the E and then looks to Mr. Garrett. “Did you want to give one out tonight?”

Mr. Garrett nods and steps forward a little. “I want to give my E to Mitch from our bassline.” There’s a couple woops around me since the whole line is standing together as Mitch walks forward to accept his E. “You’ve been super helpful with making sure Sue understands what’s going on and are always ready to help in any way needed.” Mitch takes his E walks back to us. I see Ally whisper something to him as he passes her and he chuckles a little.

Mr. Hartsock goes next and gives his E to a color guard girl named Kathryn that I haven’t met yet. Mrs. Smith gives hers to a freshman clarinet player named Dani that I don’t even recognize. The brass tech, Ricky, gives his to Joel which elicits a chorus of “RAMBO!” from most of the band. Don gives his E to Teresa (without an h) and compliments her marching skills and then Rich gives his to Byron next, so they high five as they pass each other in the middle of our circle. The middle school music teacher that techs for the guard gives her E to a girl named Kristina. Only two of the other techs give one out at all. Tim, who is one of the brass techs, gives an E to a tuba player named Gideon. And Mr. Stokes gives one to Sue which elicits another cheer around me when she goes to accept.

“Alright,” Mr. Fairchild says. “I’m going to let our drum majors hand out theirs next if they wish.” He looks at Robert who nods and steps forward.

“I want to give mine to freshman trombone Emily. You’ve really been hustling out there the past couple days and all through summer rehearsal and it doesn’t go unnoticed.” She steps forward and accepts her E before Robert steps back and motions for Chelsey to replace him.

“Uh, Brittany.” A girl with a tenor sax steps forward. I only half recognize her. Chelsey compliments her dedication to the ensemble or something and then once they’ve both stepped back, Mr. Fairchild clears his throat again.

“Okay, section leaders, you're up. Raise your hand if you have someone you want to give an E to, please and I’ll call you up.” A bunch of hands spring into the air. “Alex?”

A guy with a trumpet steps forward and picks up a E which he awards to a freshman named Andrew. Cindy gives hers to the kid with blond dreds who is apparently named Kaleb and then Emilee gives hers to Mallory from church. The clarinet section leader, Lauren, gives hers to a girl named Elina. Linsey gives hers to Ally and Val gives hers to Christina.

“Mindy, let’s take you next,” Mr. Fairchild says.

“I want to give mine to Pilar,” she says and my face lights up. I haven’t actually been able to watch my sister, too much, but I feel like this bodes well. She glances at me and smirks as she steps forward to take the E from Mindy. “For a rookie and for someone that didn’t even know any of us a couple months ago, you’ve been doing amazing,” Mindy says. “You’ve already made a lot of progress, so I’m really excited to see where you go.”

The low brass section leader, Mark gives his to Kurth, who I’ve only heard about in passing. The flute and picc section leader, Bri is probably one of the tiniest people I’ve ever seen and she hands her E to a freshman named Karly. There’re only two hands left in the air after that Chris and Krista. I wonder why Benji isn’t handing one out for a moment, but don’t say anything. Krista gives her E to a guard girl named Bre that I think I’ve seen around and then Chris gives his to Savannah.

Mr. Fairchild is about to move on with the rest of announcements when Benji’s hand jumps into the air next to me. “Make a last-minute decision?” Mr. Fairchild asks.

Benji nods and steps forward to pick up an E. I watch him carefully; he’s biting his lip and then his eyes lock with mine. “Uh, I’m gonna give this to Victor.” I continue to stare at him, but a smirk plays at my lips. “Uh, you’ve had the entire show memorized for a month and have yet to complain about anything during rehearsal. Which for a rookie, is impressive,” Benji says and I roll my eyes. He and I both know why he’s actually giving me this token of appreciation. I walk forward and take it from him and when I’m close enough that no one else will see, I raise an eyebrow before rolling my eyes again.

“Wonderful! So many excellent awards tonight!” Mr. Fairchild says as Benji and I walk back toward the rest of the line. I look at the tiny plastic oval in my hand. The background is gold and the E itself is in a font I don’t think I’ve seen before and painted purple. I slip it into my pocket.

“Don’t lose that,” Benji says quietly.

“I won’t,” I whisper back as we look to Mr. Fairchild.

“Alright, folks, tomorrow is Crazy Sock Day, so let’s see what you’ve got. If you don’t own any, I’m told a few of our veteran ladies have some impressive collections they’re willing to share, so ask around. It’s supposed to be about ten degrees cooler tomorrow after this thunderstorm tonight, so we’re going to have mud, but we should be able to breathe a little easier. We’re going to run about the same rehearsal schedule again; another eight sets of drill. Tomorrow at lunch our rep from Dinkles will be in the cafeteria fitting rookies and any vets that need new shoes for those. You can also turn in your glove orders to him while he’s here. If you don’t know how many gloves you need or if you need them, please talk to your section leaders before you leave tonight so you can have the order form and check ready tomorrow.”

Once we drop off our drums in the closet, I start walking toward the lobby. I find Benji just around the corner, seemingly waiting for someone, so I walk over to him. “You didn’t have to do that,” I say quietly.

“Huh?”

“The E. You didn’t have to do that.”

“What d’you mean?”

“I mean. You and I both know that was some sort of attempted apology for yesterday which for the hundredth time, wasn’t your fault and you don’t need to apologize for.”

“Except that it was my fault and I didn’t give you an E to apologize either way.” I raise an eyebrow and he shakes his head a little. “Never mind, Victor. Just take the E and be happy with it, okay?”

I pull it out of my pocket and hold it up. “What am I supposed to do with this.”

“Well, keep it somewhere until you get your uniform next week and then it goes on your helmet in your hat box.”

I nod. “And just to confirm. I don’t need gloves, right?”

“Nope. We just tape the gauntlets on,” he says with a chuckle. I raise an eyebrow. “We’ll show you next Friday before preview. Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay,” I say.

“How’s you butt by the way? Any less painful than this morning?” he asks with a chuckle.

“Why do you care, asshole?” I whirl around to find Mia behind me.

“Jesus Christ, Mia. He’s trying to be nice. And for the hundredth time, _I’m not mad at him so no one else gets to be either_.” I hiss quietly and then I turn back to Benji. “Sorry. Yeah, actually. I think it’s a little better, but I guess I’ll find out when I try to sit down for dinner.”

He half-smiles at me and then waves me off. “Go on, I’ll see ya tomorrow.”

I tilt my head a little but he just shoos me with his hand again and I sigh as I start walking toward the lobby. Mia walks next to me and tries to grab my hand again but I pull it away. “Okay, yikes,” she says.

I sigh. “Look. I’m exhausted and I don’t wanna take my anger out on you again like I did last night, so I’m just gonna go and I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

She nods one. “Yeah, alright.” I swear it looks like she might cry and I just can’t make myself care. Lake is waiting for her in the lobby and I watch as they both walk outside and get into Lake’s mom’s car. I look around a little until I find my sister and Felix.

“Ready to go?” I ask as I walk up to them.

“What did you do to Mia?” Felix asks.

“What d’you mean?”

“Uh, she was crying? And then you walked out here a minute later…”

“ _God_. Yeah, well she was being stupid.”

He raises his eyebrows. “What the _hell_ has gotten into you?”

“Nothing,” I say and close my eyes. “It’s nothing. I’m just tired of having to justify myself for not hating Benji. I’m tired of people hating him for me when I’m not even mad about the whole thing at all. And I’m really really tired of people asking if I’m okay. So, can we just go home now?” They both stare at me in silence. “Okay, well you can stare at me all you want. You asked a question and got an answer. Let’s fucking go,” I say. I don’t wait for a response; I just start walking toward the stadium lot. By the time I get to the light at the corner, Felix and Pilar have caught up.

“I’m sorry,” Pilar says quietly when I look at her. “I don’t understand where your head’s at or whatever, but that doesn’t mean I have to be an asshole about it. We’re supposed to be on the same team.” I half-smile at her. Then the light changes and we cross the street. As we’re starting to walk up the hill, she adds, “Look, I don’t know why you’re not mad at Benji or why you’re so hell-bent on the parents and staff not finding out it was him, but I’m going to respect your decision, okay?”

“Thank you.”

“And I don’t really know what the hell’s going on, but I’ve got your back, okay?” Felix says and I laugh. “Seriously, what the fuck is going on?”

I roll my eyes. “You asked why Mia was crying, right?” He nods. “I was talking to Benji by the auditorium and he asked if my butt bruise hurt any less than it did this morning. Which by the way I told him he could take the blame for that if it made him feel better.” The both laugh. “Anyway, Mia showed up and called him an asshole and asked why he cared. So, I told her that he was being nice and that I’m not mad at him so no one else gets to be either and then I tried to go back to talking to Benji but he shooed me away for whatever reason. I think Mia must have been giving him a dirty look behind my back.”

“I don’t see how _that_ makes her cry,” Felix says.

“It was probably the next part that caused that. We were walking to the lobby and she tried to hold my hand and I wouldn’t let her. I know that was super petty or whatever, but like fuck it. I’m just so tired of people. I told her I didn’t wanna take my anger out on her again like I did last night.”

“When’d that happen?” Pilar asks.

“When I was fucking pissed at you for wanting to tell Mom and Dad and then she texted me to ask how I was and then asked to borrow a shirt and whatever. It was just dumb and I was being mean to her for no reason. She didn’t even really do anything wrong.”

“Way to go. I thought you _liked_ her.”

“I _do_ like her,” I say. “At least I think I do. It’s complicated and I’m not talking about it right now. Anyway, I said I was going to go home and we’d talk tomorrow. She said okay and I could tell she was about to cry, but she turned around and walked outside.”

“And you’re supposed to go on a date tomorrow,” Felix says.

I groan. I’d almost forgotten that was tomorrow. “Think it’s too late to back out?”

“Do you want to?”

“Maybe? I don’t fucking know. I just don’t feel like dealing with people.”

“Unlucky for you there’s three more days of band camp this week.”

“That doesn’t count.”

“Huh?”

“Band doesn’t count. I mean lunch does but the rest of the time doesn’t. I don’t have to, like, socialize or whatever.”

“I guess,” he says and then he glances at my sister and I see her shrug.

“You’re both judging me right now,” I say. We’re now at the light on the other side of the hill, waiting to cross.

“Maybe a little,” Pilar admits.

“But you have to socialize during sectionals, don’t you?” Felix says.

“Yeah, with Benji. That doesn’t count.”

“So Benji isn’t a ‘people’?” he says.

I exhale through my nose as we cross the street. “Not exactly. I mean yes, he’s a person, obviously, he’s a person. But, like, he doesn’t make me mad.”

“But I thought you said he was trying to apologize and take the blame or whatever? Isn’t that exactly what your mad about the rest of us doing?” Pilar says and that’s when I realize she’s right and my brain is just an asshole.

“I mean, yeah.”

“Okay, so I don’t follow,” she says as we cross the street one way and then the other.

“Honestly, I don’t either, but he doesn’t make me mad,” I say and I shrug. They both stare at me again. I groan, but don’t try to explain anymore, because I know exactly why my brain is doing what it’s doing, and that’s not something I’m about to tell anyone. Not even my best friend and my sister. “Can we just move on?” I ask when they’re both still staring as we round the corner to our street.

“Sure, wanna tell me why you sister isn’t talking to your mom instead?” Felix says.

“Not until after Thursday night,” I say. I look at her and she nods. We’d agreed already. This was staying between us until we had an actual answer; until we knew for sure. It is getting a little exhausting to have my mom constantly questioning why Pilar isn’t speaking to her, but I can deal with that if it’s temporary.

“That’s oddly specific.”

“Yep,” I agree. “Well, see you tomorrow.” I walk toward my building without waiting for his response. I feel Pilar next to me as I open the door.


	39. Part 7I - Primanti's Double Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DRAMA!
> 
> TW/CW: Cheating? I mean that's also a spoiler, I guess?

The practice field is a muddy disaster on Wednesday, but we manage. I _definitely_ need to go home and shower before this date though; which I tell Cassie and Mia as much when we’re talking in the lobby after practice. “Yeah, I wanna go shower and change, too,” Cassie says. “I’m gonna drive home and do that. Then, I’ll text you guys when I’m leaving my house with approximate pick-up times. I’m gonna leave my car at Shawn’s house and then Victor, we’re gonna get you first and then we’ll come get you Mia.” _Perfect_ , because I still really want to know what Shawn was talking about on Sunday.

“My mom’s here!” Lake calls from a few feet away and Mia looks up.

“Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you guys in a couple hours?”

“Something like that. I’ll let you know for sure then.”

“Thanks,” she says with a smile at Cassie and then she turns to me. She raises on tiptoe and kisses me lightly. We smile at each other for a second and then she walks toward where Lake is already getting into her mom’s car.

“Okay, well, see you later,” Cassie says with a smirk and a wave as she starts walking toward her car. Felix and Pilar join me a minute later and we start walking home.

“So, Cassie and Shawn are taking you guys to Primanti’s tonight?” Felix says and I nod.

“What is this place anyway? I haven’t asked. I mean, I know it’s a Pittsburgh-based restaurant chain…”

“Oh man, the sandwiches and the pizza and the wings. It’s all amazing!” Felix says. “I’m a little jealous, actually. I’ve only been a couple times where we do group outings. We don’t usually venture that far.”

“Where is it?”

“Lancaster. Right before you get into the city. Right off thirty.”

“Okay, so what should I order. So I don’t look like a total noob.”

He laughs. “Sandwich is a good bet. They’re all good, so take your pick. Other than maybe the fish. That one still weirds me out a little. And the sandwiches are all on this _amazing_ thick sliced Italian bread and come with provolone cheese, cole slaw, fries, and tomato on them. Yes, the fries and cole slaw are on the sandwich. You can order them on the side if you want though. But their whole deal is that it’s all on the sandwich.”

When I get home, I shower and change clothes immediately and then I sit on my bed to wait for Cassie’s text which comes just after four-thirty.

_Leaving my house now. Should be to you in about 15 minutes._

_Sounds good._

I walk out to the living room to tell my mom I’m leaving soon and she tells me to have fun and asks a thousand questions about who’s going and where we’re going. I can barely pay attention enough to answer though because I’m so anxious to ask Cassie and Shawn about what Shawn was saying on Sunday that it’s all I can think about.

“Mijo, what’s gotten into you?”

“Nothing, nothing. I’m just anxious about this.”

“Anxious-nervous or anxious-excited?”

“Both? I don’t know.”

“You really like this Mia girl, don’t you?”

I look at her. Well, that’s the perfect excuse, I guess. “Yeah, I guess so.” She raises an eyebrow. “I like Mia,” I say and I think it’s the most confidence I’ve managed to put into that phrase yet. It’s not a lie per say, but I also don’t think it conveys the right truth. “She’s really nice and pretty… and her lips taste like blue raspberry which definitely doesn’t hurt.” My mom smirks and laughs. Talking about kissing a girl like that is definitely one way to keep her from ever figuring anything out. “Anyway, I’m gonna head outside. They should be here soon.”

I head for the door before she can answer. “Well, okay, have fun with Mia.”

“I will,” I say as I open the door.

Once I’m outside I check my phone. It’s only been about ten minutes since Cassie’s text, so I go to lean against one of the trees in front of the building to wait. I get another text from her a minute later.

_Leaving Shawn’s now. About 2 or 3 minutes. Silver PT Cruiser._

Two minutes later the vehicle in question parks across the street and the driver’s window rolls down. “Victor!” Shawn calls and then he waves. I push myself off the tree and walk over to the car. I get in behind Shawn and he immediately pulls out.

“Hey,” Cassie says. She turns around and smiles at me from the passenger’s seat.

“Hey,” I say back and then I take a deep breath. “I, uh, wanted to ask you guys about something Shawn said on Sunday?”

Cassie raises an eyebrow at me, but Shawn chuckles. “This should be interesting,” he says. “Go on.”

“Um, when we were talking about Benji and Derek,” I say quietly. “You said something about you probably heard wrong and you both looked at each other like… I don’t know. I just… what was that about?”

Cassie closes her eyes and turns around. Shawn glances at her and she shrugs a little. “Should I tell him?” he says.

“He’s friends with Benji; I’m not sure that’s the best idea.”

Shawn nods once. “Can I ask you a question first?” Shawn says.

“I guess?”

“How much do you know about Derek?”

“Not a lot, honestly. Just that he was a jackass of a drum major that no one liked and that he’s dating Benji and hates me even more than he hates everyone else for some ridiculous reason.”

“Because Benji likes you,” Cassie says. Shawn glances at her and I stare. She didn’t say _because he thinks Benji likes you_. There was no thinking involved in this statement. “Oh, come on. He threw a fucking water balloon at your ass and hasn’t left you alone since. Not to mention the way he’s _always_ looked at you. He invited you over swimming last weekend even though he _knew_ Derek would hate that. From what I’ve heard… through the grapevine… I refuse to reveal my sources; he hasn’t shut up about you since the first percussion rehearsal in June.” I just stare at her, but Shawn shrugs and nods.

“She has a point, kid.”

“It doesn’t matter. That’s not the point,” I say.

“I mean, that’s why Derek hates you though.”

“Okay, fine. Can we go back to my question now?”

“Wait, where am I going?” Shawn asks.

“Ridge Avenue,” Cassie says. “She lives on one of those weird private lanes of fancy houses up there. I’ll show you which one.” Shawn nods once. I’m still staring at Cassie. “Fine, okay,” she says looking at me. “But you _can’t_ tell Benji. It’s not worth it.” I raise an eyebrow. I don’t like the sounds of this, at all. “So, we broke up for a little while last fall. At the end of September, beginning of October. Just for a couple weeks.”

“Okay?”

“And Shawn, being the man-whore that he is when single was immediately on hook up apps.”

“You didn’t haven’t to put it like that.”

“Well, it’s true, babe. I love you, but you’re a man-whore when you’re allowed to be.” Shawn grumbles but doesn’t say anything else. “Anyway, uh, he came across Derek. They ended up hooking up, the last weekend of September.”

“But… weren’t Benji and Derek already together by then.”

“I didn’t know they were together, obviously,” Shawn says. “But yeah, I’ve since learned that they were.”

“Which is why we didn’t say anything. And that’s why you can’t tell Benji.”

“Um, I’m pretty sure that’s the exact reason we _should_ tell Benji…”

“No,” Shawn says. “I promised Derek we wouldn’t do that, or well that I wouldn’t tell anyone. Which is also why I didn’t want to tell you.”

“What the fuck? Why would you…”

“Calm down,” Cassie says. “They’ve been together almost a year now and this was in the first month. Derek swears it hasn’t happened since.”

“I created a dummy account that he couldn’t have known to block and scoured every hook up and dating app under the sun and can’t find him anymore,” Shawn confirms. “So, I think that’s the truth. Obviously, if I find out it’s not, we’ll need to revisit the idea of telling Benji, but until then; if that even happens, no.” I just stare dumbfounded at them. “I didn’t say anything on Sunday, because I didn’t know for sure. I talked to Derek on Monday while you all were at band camp and told him what I’d heard and asked him what had happened and he told me the truth."

“Which was?”

“That he and Benji got together the first Thursday of September, after practice, but that Benji wasn’t ready to come out yet. He apparently wasn’t even out to his parents. And that they’d had a fight about Derek wanting Benji to come out if they were going to be in an exclusive relationship. Benji didn’t want to, so Derek didn’t talk to him for that whole weekend even though they were at a football game and a comp. And then he re-activated his grindr profile on Saturday night and found me, because I was home for the weekend.”

“Okay, so he sounds like a really shitty person. Why the fuck is Benji dating him?”

“Not our business,” Cassie says.

“Yeah, but like… maybe he just doesn’t know how shitty Derek is?” I say as Shawn turns onto the road that goes up over the mountain.

“I’m pretty sure _everyone_ has told him that Derek’s an asshole and it’s a little hard not to know that anyway. I think he just doesn’t care.”

“I mean, Derek is, uh, how do I put this for innocent little sophomore ears…” Shawn says.

I just stare. “Are you saying that Benji is with Derek for the sex?”

Shawn shrugs. “I’m saying it’s possible. Especially if _that_ was his first experience with a guy? And he’s gay? I know Benji hooked up with girls before. That’s why I was so shocked by the whole thing on Sunday. Also, I’m sitting here as a bi man. I really shouldn’t have assumed gay when I heard they were together, but I also know Derek and he’s, uh, well he’s not the type to get into a relationship with a bi person.”

“But he hooked up with you?”

“Hooking up and being in a relationship are two different stories, Vic.”

“It’s this one,” Cassie says, pointing to Mia’s road on the left. Shawn nods and puts on his blinker.

“You can’t tell him,” Shawn says as he makes the turn. “Please. It’s not worth ruining their relationship over something that happened that long ago and in that circumstance.”

“I won’t say anything,” I agree begrudgingly.

“Thank you,” they say in unison.

“To the left when the main road goes right and she’s the first house up the lane,” Cassie says and Shawn nods as he takes her directions. We stop in front of Mia’s house a few seconds later and she walks out the front door. Cassie rolls down her window to wave and then Mia gets into the back seat next to me. After she buckles her seatbelt, she grabs my hand on the seat between us and intertwines our fingers. I see Cassie smirking and roll my eyes as Shawn loops around and starts back out of Mia’s road. Everyone is quiet and I think Mia’s trying to figure out why. Cassie turns the radio back on and it’s tuned to NPR, but I don’t bother questioning why.

At the bottom of the hill, Shawn turns left, which takes a couple minutes to accomplish. We go out past Walmart and get onto the highway. It’s at about that point that Mia starts talking. I don’t know if it’s because she’s tired of the silence or what, but it’s nice because a few minutes later we’re all talking about things that don’t really matter as if the earlier conversation never happened.

It’s just before five-thirty when Shawn parks in front of the restaurant and we all get out. We’re seated at a booth along the wall and a waitress comes to take our drink orders. I order a Coke because I don’t feel like thinking about it and then I open the menu. It’s a little overwhelming at first.

“Okay, Mr. Texas, open it the whole way. The middle page is the one you want,” Cassie says with a laugh and Mia laughs, too. I do what she says and the middle page of the menu is all of the sandwiches. I’m a little overwhelmed by the length of the list.

“The Egg and cheese should be veggie, right?” Mia says. I know she’s not talking to me so I just keep looking.

“I’d think,” Cassie says, “but you can definitely ask.”

I give up and look up. “What do you guys get?”

“The Angus Sirloin Steak and Cheese,” Cassie says. “No slaw, no tomato, because I’m a fake yinzer.”

“I’ve done most of them at this point,” Shawn says with a shrug.

“Which is your favorite?”

“Probably the Ragin’ Cajun,” he says, “or the capicola.”

“What should I get?” I ask. “I wasn’t expecting the list to be this long.”

They all laugh a little. “I mean the Pitts-burger is the classic,” Cassie says.

“What is that one?”

“Ground beef,” she says. “But most of my actual Pittsburgh friends swear by the Ragin’ Cajun, so I feel like that’s valid, too.”

The waitress comes back with our drinks. “Alright, are we ready to order or do you need more time?” she asks.

Everyone looks at me. “Do me last and I’ll figure it out by then,” I say.

“Alright, so I want the sirloin steak and cheese; no slaw, no tomatoes,” Cassie says.

“I’m gonna do the Ragin’ Cajun, everything on it,” Shawn says. “And can I get five bone-in Spicy Garlic wings, too?”

“Wait, add five garlic parm wings, too, boneless. If we’re playin’ that game, I’m in. Their wings are bomb,” Cassie says.

The waitress finishes scribbling and turns to Mia. “For you?”

“Uh, the egg and cheese is vegetarian, right?”

“Yep. But everything is cooked on the same grill top.”

“That’s fine,” Mia says. “I’ll take that.”

“And you?” the waitress says turning to me.

“Uh, it’s my first time here, so I guess I’m just gonna get the Pitts-burger?”

She chuckles. “Everything on it? Fries, slaw, tomatoes?”

I nod. “Yeah, that’s fine.”

“Anything else for now?” she asks, looking around at us.

“Nope. I think we’re good,” Cassie says and the waitress nods, collects our menus, and walks away.

Conversation flows again and the food is delicious as promised, though I have to eat some of the fries off the sandwich and squish the bread to fit it in my mouth. Cassie does the same thing, so I guess that’s normal. After we eat, Shawn asks if we’d mind walking down to the video game store and I’m not sure I want Mia to know how much of a nerd I am, so I try not be be super enthusiastic about my ‘yes’ response. She agrees, too, though. “I wanna see if they have any of the cool pro controllers for the switch in-stock. It’s so much easier to play Mario Kart with those instead of the tiny joy-cons and I only have three right now; I want a fourth.”

“You can say that again. He bought me the Yoshi one for my birthday and it’s my favorite thing,” Cassie says, nudging Shawn’s shoulder with her own.

“Is that because it’s a pro controller or because it has Yoshi on it though?” he asks.

“Combination for sure,” she says.

“Also, I thought the giant stuffed Yoshi I bought you for Christmas was your favorite thing?” Shawn says as he opens the door and gestures all of us inside.

“It’s a tie,” Cassie says and he laughs. “And if we’re not limiting things to inanimate objects, you’re my actual favorite thing,” she adds with a wink and okay, I think I see what everyone was talking about on Sunday, because gross.

We look around for the while and both Mia and Shawn buy a few things and then we walk back across the parking lot to Shawn’s car. The drive to Mia’s house is only about twenty minutes. When Shawn parks in the drive way she undoes her seatbelt and smiles at me for a second. I smile back. She leans across and kisses me and then smiles again. “That was fun. See you tomorrow morning.”

“Bye, Mia,” I say as she opens her door and gets out. We wait until she gets inside and then Shawn turns around and starts driving.

“So, Mia’s in love with you,” Cassie says as we turn out of Mia’s lane.

“What?”

“She’s in love with you,” she says matter-of-factly, “but I’m still trying to figure out how you feel about her.”

“I mean, I like her? Obviously.”

“Do you _like_ her though? Cause I really can’t tell and that’s weird for me; I can always tell.” She turns around to look at me.

“I mean. I like kissing her, so I think that means I _like_ her, right?”

She shrugs. “Sure, kid.”

“I mean, I get those little butterflies in my stomach people are always talking about and everything.”

“Happens to the best of us,” Shawn says, “but that doesn’t mean you like her like that.”

“What?”

“I mean, when I kiss him,” Cassie says and she raises her eyebrows toward Shawn, “it’s not just butterflies. It’s like those jet fighters that fly over the Super Bowl or like, getting hit by a huge wave.”

“Oh,” I say smally.

“Yeah,” she says, “so try to think about it okay. Because I can see she’s falling hard and if you don’t feel the same way. If you don’t think this is going to at least be a long-term thing? You need to end it before she falls too hard. Because, I do know you care about her and I don’t think you want to hurt her.”

“I _do_ like her though.”

“Okay,” Cassie says. “I’m going to believe you for now.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means if you start showing me that’s not true, we’re going to have this conversation again and I’m not going to be as nice about it.”

“Why do you care so much?”

“Because intra-band break ups are always messy, but the way Mia’s been looking at you; this one would be _bad_ and honestly, I don’t wanna deal with that all season. And I don’t like seeing people get hurt, regardless of how disgustingly rich they are.”

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to come say hi on Tumblr (onlyherefortheshowmances) if you want. I love reading your comments on things I write, so please feel free to leave me one. I also accept asks and messages on tumblr if you don't want to do a public comment. 
> 
> Also, if you want to just talk about the fic; if you have questions about the fic; if you want spoilers about the fic - message me if we're mutuals or send a non-anon ask that I can reply privately to on tumblr (or DM me on any other social media you may know me on) so I can tell you without spoiling everyone else. I really don't mind and I would love someone to talk about this fic with, tbh.


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